A family have said they are ‘forever grateful’ to hospital and emergency staff as their son returned home 30 days after a horror crash left him in a coma.
17-year-old Ben Davies and his friend Jack were returning home from a day out in Barnard Castle when the car they were in was involved in a serious crash last month, leaving them with life-threatening injuries.
The Corsa they were in crashed into a tree and rolled onto its roof during the incident on the B6282 in Eggleston, County Durham on Sunday, April 16.
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At least a dozen emergency vehicles and two air ambulances attended with Ben needing a blood transfusion at the scene before being airlifted to James Cook University Hospital.
Speaking to the Echo after his son returned home on Tuesday (May 16), Ben’s dad Stuart said: “We’ve got our son back and we can’t thank the hospital and emergency services enough.”
Ben was left with a bleed on the brain, a punctured lung, fractures to his neck and back, shattered pelvis, broken finger, fractured ribs, and nerve damage in his left arm.
He spent 11 to 12 days in an induced coma.
Luckily a retired nurse and four doctors who were on a training course happened to be in the area of the crash that Sunday. One of the doctors worked on the ICU ward at James Cook where Ben was treated.
Stuart, 54 from Spennymoor, added: “You couldn’t have planned them being there when it happened.
“The emergency services were all brilliant and the hospital looked after us as well as Ben until the day he left.
“We found out later that we could have lost him, one of the consultants said when he was out of the woods that they didn’t think he’d make it.”
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Stuart and Ben’s mum Julie only found out about the crash when another of Ben’s friends came knocking at their door. They rushed to James Cook Hospital where they faced a nervous wait to find out if their son was already there.
“There was another couple waiting when we got to the hospital who told us they thought their son was already there and he wasn’t in a good way.
“When the next ambulance came and their son arrived, we realised Ben was already here. We were a mess.”
Ben returned home on Tuesday 30 days after the incident. The electrical engineering apprentice faces a long recovery and will have to wear a neck brace for the next three months.
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His friend Jack, who was driving at the time, is also currently in recovery.
An 18-year-old driver of a Honda Civic involved in the incident was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He has since been released under investigation pending further enquiries, Durham Police has confirmed.
The passenger of a third vehicle, a Seat Ibiza, was also injured and taken to hospital by road.
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