A Shrewsbury woman who was so badly hurt in a crash she spent seven weeks in hospital has made a "surreal" journey to meet people who helped save her life.
Ruth Cork was riding her motorbike on the A65 at Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria with a friend, who was on a separate bike, on August 19 of 2022 when she was involved in a collision with a car.
Miss Cork can't recall the crash itself to this day.
Ruth Cork was riding her motorbike on the A65 at Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria with a friend, who was on a separate bike, on August 19 of 2022 when she was involved in a collision with a car.
Miss Cork can't recall the crash itself to this day.
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00:00 [Music]
00:06 We were heading towards Penrith initially,
00:09 popped into Penrith to pop into a bike shop
00:12 and then we were heading to Kirby Lonsdale to go down to Devils Bridge.
00:15 But I don't remember any of the accidents, so leaving Penrith post that,
00:19 it's kind of a blur.
00:20 Broke one of the lower two legs,
00:21 broke my femur which I've now got a nail in,
00:24 broke my pelvis in four places,
00:26 broke my sacrum, so I've got a few bolts in there that will stay for life.
00:29 Displaced and crushed a few vertebrae.
00:32 Broke my jaw in three places,
00:34 my zygoma which is my eye socket,
00:37 and my skull and had a bleed in the brain as well.
00:41 But I did a good job.
00:42 [Laughs]
00:43 There was a lot of people that helped me on the route of my recovery
00:47 and it was Preston that saved my life at the time
00:50 but I wouldn't have got there if it hadn't been for the Great North Ambulance.
00:54 So on the major trauma wards, the nurses were fantastic,
00:57 the doctors were brilliant
00:59 and the physios got me standing up.
01:01 And then when I transferred to Stanford Hall,
01:03 we did a lot more work with hydro work, physio work
01:06 to get me back to a state of walking
01:08 and it's been a progression from zoomer frame to crutches to stick
01:12 to then having no aids at all.
01:14 So October 23 was the year to do my half marathon in Shrewsbury which is my hometown.
01:21 But because I was still not technically at the point of running,
01:24 I decided I would walk.
01:26 But my competitive streak got ahead of me
01:28 so a slow jog, walk, run type thing happened and I completed it.
01:34 And without the Air Ambulance team, it would have been a non-starter for me.
01:37 So I would never have been at any of these events if it hadn't been for them.
01:41 So this is the least I could do to give something back.
01:43 How much weight did you lose?
01:45 I think it was just over a thousand pounds.
01:47 Yeah, it's been a wide gang of people that have supported me through this
01:50 but it's the least I could do for the Great North Ambulance.
01:53 So it's really nice to come back and see what you guys do and where you're based
01:56 and see the kit.
01:58 But I am back on a bike, unfortunately, for some people.
02:01 But that's what I find the zest for life in.
02:04 And the aim now is to become a blood biker, to give something back at that as well.
02:09 [Music]