Crash survivor aims to be blood biker 'to give back'

Ruth Cork pictured with the Great North Air Ambulance Service's Dr James Hale, Dr Mark Byers and pilot Mik Kingham

A motorcyclist who suffered life-threatening injuries in a crash aims to become a blood biker "to give something back".

Ruth Cork was involved in a collision on the A65 near Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, in 2022.

She was airlifted to hospital by the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNASS) after she sustained a bleed on the brain and broke several bones.

"I think if I had to transfer by road, there was a chance that I might not have quite got there," she said.

She was airlifted to the Royal Preston Hospital and later transferred to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, as she works in the military.

The 36-year-old, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, has since been reunited with the air ambulance crew who helped to save her life.

She visited the charity's base in Langwathby, Penrith, where she met Dr Mark Byers, who administered a blood transfusion.

Miss Cork said she could not remember much about the crash, including those who came to her aid.

"There were a lot of people that helped me on the route of my recovery and it was Preston that saved my life at the time, but I wouldn't have got there if it hadn't been for the Great North Air Ambulance Service," she said.

Miss Cork spent seven weeks in hospital and had to learn to walk again

Miss Cork broke her femur, sacrum, jaw, zygoma, skull and pelvis, and crushed several vertebrae.

She spent seven weeks in hospital, during which she under went surgery and had to relearn to walk.

"It's been a progression from Zimmer frame, to crutches, to stick, to then having no aids at all," she said.

She has since completed the Shrewsbury Half Marathon and raised more than £1,000 for charity.

Despite the crash she still rides her motorbike but is now looking to use her skills to help others.

"I am back on a bike, unfortunately for some people, but that’s what I find a zest for life in," she added.

"The aim now is to become a blood biker, to give something back to that as well."