A West Cumbrian teen who was involved in a head-on car collision with his family has raised more than £2,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance.
Jack McCrickard, 13, and his brother Harry, 10, and dad Ian, 50, of Egremont were at the centre of a major emergency response following the collision on the A5086 near Deanscales in October 2018.
Mr McCrickard said: “Another car came round the corner on the wrong side of the road and head on into us. It was that fast, I couldn’t react.”
The father-of-four was trapped in the car for an hour and 45 minutes, and his son Jack also needed to be released from the wreckage.
While Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service had started to cut the father and son out of the car, both aircraft from the Great North Air Ambulance Service had flown to the scene and requested assistance from the North West Air Ambulance.
GNAAS doctor John Ferris said: “On scene we were able to provide advanced pain relief to Ian and his children, who had a number of serious fractures and some internal bleeding.
“By giving them some strong medication, this allowed us to remove them from the car they were in and prepare them for the flight before we took everybody to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.”
Harry ended up spending his sixth birthday in hospital with injuries including a fractured pelvis.
Jack also suffered multiple injuries including a broken femur, while Mr McCrickard needed muscle and skin grafts after sustaining a compound fracture.
The brothers left hospital after three weeks and returned home to recover, while their dad was discharged a week after them.
Since the incident, the McCrickard family have reunited with one of the charity’s critical care teams and have raised thousands of pounds for charity.
Jack’s mother Lisa McCrickard said: “How do you thank people like that, that saved your whole family? Absolute heroes. You can never thank them enough. We are doing really good. We still have good days and bad days but better now.”
Last month, Jack decided to climb Scafell Pike with his friends and family and raised £2,080 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
He said: “I wanted to climb Scafell because I wanted to challenge myself. It’s important for me to support the Great North Air Ambulance Service because I wanted to give something back after they helped me and my family.”
