Life-changing horror bike crash for couple
AIR AMBULANCE AIDED
TWO friends have described how their lives have “changed forever” after their motorbike smashed through the back door of a car in a horrific crash.
Derek Thoms, 56, and Christine Strong, 58, from Sunderland, were on their way home from a ride out when a car pulled out of a junction on the A66 near Barnard Castle, County Durham, in July last year.
On impact, the motorbike smashed through the window of the car’s backdoor, throwing the pair forwards and into the vehicle. The crash was so bad that when emergency services – including an air ambulance attended the scene – they thought the incident was fatal and that neither of them would have survived.
Miss Strong was on life support for two weeks, she shattered her pelvis, suffered a major head injury and had eight bolts in her back and a rod in her spine.
She said: “I remember sitting on the back of Derek’s bike, him revving the engine and then I woke up at James Cook University Hospital.
“I have days where all I want to do is cry but I have to be strong. I remember waking up in the hospital and seeing the pattern on the ceiling and thinking, ‘Where am I?’ Life has changed forever, and I can’t do the things I could do before.”
Mr Thoms suffered a crushed pelvis and right hand, lost the use of his right leg, a broken nose, facial scarring and a double hernia as well as losing his teeth.
He said: “We were heading back over the A66 which was really busy. I tapped Christine’s leg to make sure she was OK and that’s the last thing I remember.”
One day, Miss Strong hopes to get on the back of a motorbike again and said she certainly doesn’t feel nearly 60. The friends have since thanked the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) for helping them on that day saying the organisation is “worth its weight in gold.”
Mr Thoms said: “We have a long road ahead of us, but we joke on that the teeth I lost in the accident were looking for her glasses which were found on the back seat of the car.
“I’ve lost everything through this accident but GNAAS is worth its weight in gold, so God bless them all.”
GNAAS is continuing to fly through the Covid-19 crisis but has asked the public to continue its support. Visit www.gnaas.com or call 01325 487263.