A HUG FOR A HERO
‘Firemen thought no one could have survived that crash. If Jim hadn’t been there I might not have’
WALKING miracle Louise Burden takes a faltering, tentative step from hospital... and is immediately embraced by the man she owes her life to.
Louise, 33, was involved in a sickening car smash that left her with injuries so severe it’s incredible she’s been able to recover from them.
The smash resulted in the engine from one of the cars involved being hurled 50 feet, creating a scene of carnage straight out of a Hollywood action movie.
And while Louise was no doubt unlucky to have been caught up in such a horrifying incident, her luck held out in the shape of “angel of mercy” Jim Harley.
By sheer good fortune Jim, who works for health service charity LifeSavers Scotland, happened to be passing in the seconds after the accident.
Using his experience and training he was able to secure the accident site and keep Louise calm, preventing a further potential fatal injury.
The accident – which trapped Louise in her car and snapped her leg so badly it left her big toe touching her knee – resulted in their lives becoming inextricably bound together.
And they were reunited for the first time since that awful day last week, after Louise emerged on crutches following her seventh reconstructive leg surgery in nine months into the arms of the man she owes her life to.
Louise broke into a huge grin as she spotted Jim outside Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Choking back the emotion, the pair shared a warm embrace, delighted to see each other again away from the site of the crash that almost cost Louise her life.
Business analyst Louise said: “Jim will always be a hero to me. I’m so fortunate he happened to be passing.
“If he wasn’t I might not have made it.”
Jim is delighted the woman he saved is making great progress.
“It was really great to meet up with her again,” he said. “I’m just pleased that she’s recovering and seems to be making great progress, something I would have severely doubted on the day of the crash. It was an awful scene.”
On the day of the accident Louise was driving to visit her in-laws after finishing work for the week.
She was travelling on a country road going round a bend when an estate car came hurtling towards her on the wrong side of the road.
The sickening collision forced both vehicles into a spin, catapulting them from the road and into a field near Carluke Golf Club.
The force of the impact was so intense, the dashboard of the estate totally disintegrated, its engine was detached from the chassis throwing it from the car, and the driver’s watch was even stripped from his wrist by the force.
Louise’s Hyundai 4x4 came to rest against a tree.
She was trapped in the mangled wreckage, her right leg had suffered catastrophic injuries. “I’ve since spoken to a fireman who attended the scene,” she said.
“When they arrived at the crash site they didn’t think there would be any survivors.
“It took almost three hours for me to be cut free from the wreckage. I was then airlifted to the Queen Elizabeth where I had a 12-hour operation to stabilise my leg.
“I wasn’t superstitious, but I am now. The coincidence that an experienced health service volunteer was passing when the accident happened makes me think there really was someone looking down on me that day.”
Volunteer Jim delivers vital medical supplies and products by motorcycle.
He was returning from a drop-off at a care home when he came across the “horrifying” scene.
The 49-year-old said: “I saw a puff of smoke and then the traffic in front of me came to a halt.
“I was able to put the blue lights on, get through the backed-up vehicles and stop the traffic. The crash was horrific.
“Louise was conscious when I got to her. Every air bag in the car had been deployed.
“Her right leg was snapped in two, leaving her toe touching her knee. My main concern was that she would bleed out.
“She was getting agitated
and drifting in and out of consciousness. “From what I could tell there was no blood, so I had to try to stop her wriggling in case she punctured the artery on the back of her leg.
“After that all I could do was manage the scene until the paramedics arrived, which from memory was between 15 and 20 minutes.”
Since the accident, Louise hasn’t been able to look at photographs of the crash site.
Seeing them for the first time outside the hospital last week she immediately burst into tears. She still finds it difficult to think about, so great is the trauma she’s experienced.
But, with the support of her husband David, 32, she’s battling back.
Thinking back to the day of the crash, Louise, from Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, added: “I remember Jim climbing to the car alongside me as best he could. He was reassuring me and keeping me calm. I was desperate to get out of the car but he could see the extent of my injuries.
“If I kept wriggling, I could have punctured the artery and bled out very quickly. Jim later joked he was seriously thinking about bandaging me to the seat to stop me moving.
“It’s amazing he happened to be passing. Without his knowledge and training, I might not be here today.
“In my eyes Jim will always be a hero.”
Medics are hopeful her latest operation will be her last, following complications surrounding the healing of the bone in her thigh.
“I definitely believe that I owe Jim my life,” she adds.
“We should be thankful for people like him.”