Every day I stop to remember how lucky I am to be alive
Ruth Wilkinson was injured in a crash 15 years ago in Desford
EVERY day Ruth Wilkinson stops to remember just how lucky she is. Driving to work one day, she was badly injured in a crash which saw her head smash through the car window and slam against the side of a lorry.
She hit the HGV with such force it knocked the driver’s steps off the side of the vehicle.
Ruth was left unconscious and bleeding after the 8am crash in Desford. Firefighters cut her free from the wreckage and she was flown by air ambulance to the Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham with serious head injuries. As well as the multiple fractures she sustained to her head, jaw and collarbone, she had cuts on her face and was bleeding from her left ear.
Medics were worried about swelling on her brain due to the fractures in her skull.
Days later, however, Ruth, then 22, was lying at home in bed after being discharged from hospital.
“Being treated by the air ambulance crew meant I got the urgent critical care I needed at the scene of the accident and was transferred to a major trauma centre as quickly as possible,” she said. “I am convinced the speed enabled the doctors to treat me as quickly as possible and to avoid any lasting brain damage.”
Ruth suffered post-traumatic amnesia and has lost six days’ memory – the day of the accident and the following five.
“What I know about it I have been told by other people. The whole thing is a story to me,” she said. “The first thing I remember is waking up in bed at home and feeling very ill. I don’t remember the accident at all or the days in hospital. I must have a really hard head.”
When she was taken to hospital, she had an operation to insert a plate in her jaw but it did not hold so she was readmitted. In the process, her teeth were wired together for seven weeks, leaving her unable to eat solid food for that time.
“Those seven weeks were tough as I could not speak or eat any food. I had to have a liquid-only diet which consisted of special nutrition meals and a lot of soup.
“The day they unwired my jaw I broke up some Maltesers and just let them melt on my tongue. Chocolate has never tasted so good.”
It took Ruth six months to recover from the fractures in her skull, jaw and collar bone.
After numerous outpatient appointments and assessments over the next year, she made a full recovery. However, to this day, she has scars on her face and shoulder and a numbness to the right side of her bottom lip.
AS soon as she was fit enough, Ruth started to volunteer to help the air ambulance service. “I wanted to repay some of what they had done for me,” she said. It was my way of saying thank you to this amazing service.”
Ruth’s crash was 15 years ago but she still volunteers for Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA).
Since 2008 she has been giving talks, attending cheque presentations and helping at air ambulance events.
In recognition of her commitment to volunteering, Ruth was chosen to represent the DLRAA at a Buckingham Palace garden party in 2018.
“That was an unforgettable experience and one of the best things that has happened to me since I had my accident,” said Ruth, now 37, who took pal Sarah Bowden along for the day.
“I have amazing memories of a special day which I shared with my best friend. The Queen and Prince William were there and even though we did not get to speak to them it was incredible to see it all.”
Ruth, a probation officer, said she was sharing her story for the first time to highlight that the DLRAA has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, losing up to £2 million.
“Shops have been shut and other forms of fund-raising badly affected,” she said. “The DLRAA needs donations and volunteers. Without it I might not have made a full recovery.
“I can’t remember my accident but I can remember to think myself lucky every day that I am fit and well and here to tell my story. That is thanks in a large part to the air ambulance service.”
To find out more about volunteering for and supporting the air ambulance, call 0300 3045 999 or visit its website at theairambulanceservice.org.uk.