A mum has opened up for the first time about the moment a digger fell onto her bonnet and smashed through her windscreen, hitting her in the head and leaving her in a coma for six weeks.
Alana Rutter-Close, from Whitley Bay, was making her way home from a family break in Yorkshire with her mum and son back in April 2014 when the unthinkable happened.
The 40-year-old said: “I had been to Yorkshire for the weekend. I can’t actually remember any of that weekend now because of the brain injury I suffered that day.”
A low loading vehicle carrying three diggers was driving in front of her when it hit a Metro bridge and lost its load, with one of the machines falling onto the bonnet of her car.
Alana said: “The bucket on the digger then span around and smashed through my windscreen, hitting me in the head.
“I can't remember the Great North Air Ambulance Service coming for me. I know that I was conscious for a small amount of time but due to the pain I was in, I was put into a medically induced coma on scene after having a blood transfusion.”
Alana was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle where she was kept in a coma for six weeks.
She said: “I suffered severe brain damage, skull fractures, a broken jaw, collapsed lung and scarring. I also lost three teeth as well.”
While in hospital, many family and friends thought she wasn’t going to make it - and since coming out of the coma, Alana said it has taken her six years to reach a point of living a normal life.
She said: “I would say now, I am at a point where I have recovered as well as I can, and I am so eternally grateful to everyone who supported me in my recovery. So many people have helped me get to where I am today.”
Since the accident, the Great North Air Ambulance (GNAAS) has held a special place in the family’s heart.
Mrs Rutter-Close said: “I will be forever in their debt for saving my life. My accident made me realise that life can change in the blink of an eye and I am just so happy I am still alive.
“It has proved to me how many wonderful people exist in the world and really want to help people and each other.”
GNAAS is continuing to fly through the Covid-19 crisis but has asked the public to continue its support in the face of the collapse of its community fundraising activities. Please visit www.gnaas.com or call 01325 487263.
