Man paralysed in Cumbria meets paramedics 10 years on

Danny Ewin was left paralysed after the crash in Cumbria

A biker left paralysed in a crash when he was 16 has met paramedics who helped save him a decade on.

Danny Ewin had been riding between Culgaith and Langwathby in Cumbria when he was hit head-on by a car in 2012.

Mr Ewin, now a basketball coach, said he was "still going" despite his family's fears he would die.

His spinal cord was severed, he broke his back in four places and had to be airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle.

Mr Ewin also suffered broken ribs, a bleed behind his heart, collapsed lungs and a head injury. A metal cage has been placed where he broke two of his bones.

"The last thing I remember is I left my great-nana's from Culgaith and then I was heading back towards Carlisle way, and somehow hit a car head on," Mr Ewin, from Low Hesket, said.

"The next thing I remember is waking up in hospital."

Danny Ewin met the paramedics from the Great North Air Ambulance Service

Paul Burnage, the only medic at the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) Langwathby base, had been coming off duty when the crash happened.

He went to the site of the crash and requested a GNAAS helicopter from its Teesside base.

Mr Ewin's grandmother Gail said if his journey to hospital had been by road, the outcome might have been worse, given the distance to the nearest hospital.

She said: "When me and his mother went in to see the consultants, they said he'd severed his spinal cord twice and he'd never walk again, which was a massive shock."

Mr Ewin spent three months in the RVI and a further seven months at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. He later found out he was paralysed.

'I'm still going'

He said: "It was difficult coming to terms with my injuries but with the support of my loving mother, she made me look at the bigger picture and look at everybody else around me with worse injuries who would happily swap places with me."

Mr Erwin was determined to continue with his dreams, returned to college and qualified as an engineer.

He has since gained coaching qualifications for wheelchair basketball.

He also runs a boccia session in Carlisle for all different ages and disabilities and said he hoped to set up a league.

He added: "We've always positioned in the top three, and we won last year.

"I think nine years now I've been there and still going and now I'm the coach so I must enjoy it."