A TEENAGER who survived a horrific car crash has met and thanked the flying medics who helped save her life.

Sarah Dent cannot remember the collision on May 15, when her car skidded across the road and hit an oncoming vehicle head-on.

But she knows she has the emergency services and the Great North Air Ambulance Service to thank for still being around and was recently reunited with the air ambulance crew at its base in Langwathby, Cumbria.

The 18-year-old, from Middleton-in-Teesdale, said: "It's been nice to meet the crew and I couldn't be more grateful for their help. If it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here."

Miss Dent believes the roads were slippy with rainwater when she skidded on the B6282 at Laneside and spiralled out of control, colliding with the other vehicle.

She had to be cut from the wreckage by firefighters and sustained a fractured skull, bleeding in the brain, a broken neck, a ruptured diaphragm, a fractured pelvis, and air and blood in her left lung.

She was anaesthetised and treated on scene by the GNAAS paramedic and doctor team before being flown to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

Miss Dent said: "When I woke up in hospital, the first thing I asked was, how much would it cost to repair the damage on my car, but obviously it was a write-off."

The former Teesdale School Sixth Form student spent a month in hospital and her recovery since has confounded the expectations of medics as she now only needs physiotherapy every two weeks.

Dr Theo Weston said: "Sarah needed medical intervention quickly, and at the time there was a fear that she wouldn't make it. I'm amazed to see Sarah looking so well.

"Being able to meet former patients such as her under better circumstances, is one of the most rewarding parts of the job."

Miss Dent had only passed her driving test a month before the accident but looks forward to getting back behind the wheel.

She said: "This hasn't put me off driving. I'm actually looking forward to getting a new car and being on the road again."

Her father Philip is in the Marwood Shoot Syndicate which donated a day's shooting as an auction prize at the Beanfield Ball, which raised £4,200 for GNAAS.

  • The charity relies on public donations and needs to raise around £5m a year to operate, for details visit gnaas.com