Man meets paramedic who saved his life as a teen

Jed Rayner was reunited with Terry Sharpe who treated him at the scene of a crash 18 years ago

A man who was seriously injured in a car crash that killed his friend when they were 17 has been reunited with the paramedic who saved his life.

Jed Rayner, from Hebburn in South Tyneside, was travelling to Carlisle in Cumbria with friend James Johnston when their car crashed with a tractor head-on in 2006.

Mr Johnston died at the scene while Mr Rayner was airlifted to hospital with broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Mr Rayner said it was "very surreal" to meet Terry Sharpe, the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) paramedic who helped him at the scene, 18 years after the crash.

"I never thought I would ever have the honour to meet him," Mr Rayner said.

Now 35, he was invited the visit the GNAAS station at Langwathby with his family where he had a chance to thank staff who were called to the crash.

Mr Rayner said: "I remember a lady speaking to me and trying to keep me focused on her rather than the state of James as he was very badly injured.

"I can remember what James looked like at the scene and I have to admit that it's something that has haunted me ever since."

Terry Sharpe said he remembered the incident well

The friends had been travelling along the A686 between Langwathby and Edenhall in Penrith when the crash happened.

Mr Johnston, the driver, had tapped his breaks coming round a corner but a "large amount of hydraulic fluid" on the road caused them to slide into oncoming traffic, Mr Rayner recalled.

He said: "I remember being in the car then all of a sudden being on my back strapped up and being able to see out of the window of the helicopter."

Chance to give back

Mr Rayner spent days at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle where he had a chest tube inserted to help reinflate his lung.

"My recovery took a while, I had physical and mental therapy because of the flashbacks and because my body was not aligned up correctly from the trauma," Mr Rayner said.

He has signed up to do the Great North Run for the first time in support of GNAAS.

"The age I am now and how I feel is that I believe it's the right time and there isn't any other charity I would want to do it for," he said.

Mr Sharpe said he had been at GNAAS for a couple of years when Mr Rayner had his crash.

He said: "It was lovely having the opportunity to meet Jed and his family all these years later and hear about the positive impact we've had on his life."