Six months on from a terrifying A68 car accident that could have killed them, teenagers Ellie Brion and Tilly Raper have been reunited with the ambulance service team who saved their lives.
Newton Aycliffe 's Ellie, 18, was driving while Tilly, 19 and from Richmond in North Yorkshire, was in the back seat of the car late in the afternoon on March 23 this year. They were looking for a park to spend the evening sun in when they were involved in a shocking crash - which was described by paramedic Becca Bynoe as "carnage".
Their shocking story was featured on last week's second episode of the BBC show Ambulance - which is focussing on the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS). This week, Tilly and Ellie - and their mums - were reunited with the team - Becca, clinical care assistant Chris Dundas-Twizell, Jordan Parker, Roger Anderson and Great North Air Ambulance 's Steve Miles - who rescued them and provided life-saving care.
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Of the incident itself, Becca said: "I had in the back of my mind to prepare for the worst because the chances of fatalities could be high. On the way to the job I was just thinking about what the scene could potentially be like, who was already going to be there first and what extra resources we could potentially need."
She told ChronicleLive how shocking the scene had been. "We got there, police and fire were already there. It was pretty much carnage." she said. "I deemed Ellie to be non time-critical. My priority was Tilly the back passenger. I knew we needed the air ambulance to put her in an induced coma."
Chris added: "Looking back on that day, I am just so glad everyone survived, two cars, a known high speed dangerous road and three people suffered minor injuries with only Tilly having a lengthy stay in hospital. It could have been so much worse. Life is too short."
With the help of the Great North Air Ambulance and paramedic Steve Miles, along with a second ambulance service crew Roger Anderson and Tanya O'Connor, the team were able to extricate both women from the car and get them to James Cook Hospital.
Ellie suffered concussion, severe bruising and whiplash and spent a night in hospital - but for Tilly the situation was much starker. She suffered a fractured pelvis, brain injury, lacerations to her spleen and contusions on her lungs. She spent 90 days in hospital - not making it home until June 21.
Tilly said: "I just feel really grateful. I think I'm really aware that if they did a single thing differently, I might not have made it. Meeting them is another part of piecing the puzzle together for me.”
Ellie added: "I'm so grateful and happy to meet them. I came with a box of Heroes because they are heroes. I'm just so grateful for everything they have done. I finally got back in a car again, that was one of my big things."
Ambulance service dispatcher Jordan Parker said he had been overwhelmed to meet Ellie and Tilly. He added: "It’s so nice to see they’ve made a good recovery and starting to get on with their lives. I am extremely proud to do the job I do every day I get to be part of a team that really makes a difference to people’s lives."
Steve Miles from GNAAS added: "We often see patients on their worst day, so it was great to meet Tilly and her friends five months after the incident and see how well they’re doing. Tilly’s made fantastic progress and I wish all the best with her recovery."
The driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash and another passenger with Tilly and Ellie escaped the incident with minor injuries.
NEAS said they had called the air ambulance team - which is entirely charitably funded - almost 700 times over the last year. The service also highlighted how it received more than 9,000 calls to road traffic collisions between April 2020 and March 2021.
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