Victim of head-on Asfordby Hill collision to skydive in aid of air ambulance
Katie Pease (26) had to be cut from her car by firefighters following the incident in November 16 when the impact pushed the engine back into her legs.
She sustained catastrophic injuries including two broken femurs, a smashed left knee and foot, six broken ribs, a lacerated spleen, a collapsed lung and a broken right collar bone.
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Hide AdWithin six minutes of a 999 call being made, a Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA) crew took off from their base at East Midlands Airport and arrived at the crash scene near Melton 14 minutes later.
Getting Katie to the nearest major trauma hospital as quickly as possible was crucial and it took the helicopter just 10 minutes to fly her to Nottingham for a quick transfer by land ambulance to the Queen’s Medical Centre. The same journey by road – without any hold ups – would take half-an-hour.
She said: “If I hadn’t been flown in the air ambulance it may be that I wouldn’t have made it. I could have lost my leg or my life.”
Katie, who was working as a locum at MyDentist on Asfordby Road in Melton at the time of the collision, had to be given multiple units of blood before she could be operated on and she spent two-and-a-half weeks in hospital before being allowed home.
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Hide Ad“I was told that I wouldn’t be able to walk more than 100 yards and would never be able to do a job other than a desk job,” she said.
“The worst case scenario was that I might have to come to terms with being a wheelchair user.”
But Katie was determined to make the best recovery she could and seven weeks after the accident was able to stand up using crutches and within nine months of it she was walking and able to return to work.
“I will always be grateful and thankful for all of the help I had getting me to hospital quickly and the treatment which resulted in my leg being saved,” she added.
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Hide AdDespite her injuries - she suffers from arthritis and is in constant pain - Katie is amazingly taking on a skydive on April 3 at Langer Skydiving Centre with her friend, Chelsea Longstaff (27).
The aim is to raise funds for, and awareness of, the local air ambulance charity, because, she says: “The air ambulance doesn’t get enough recognition.”
In April 2017, Katie visited Melton Fire Station to thank firefighters for what they did for her in the aftermath of the crash, which happened on the A6006.
Go online at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Katie-Pease to sponsor Katie and Chelsea on their brave fundraising mission.