A crash victim who broke her neck and nearly died in a car accident close to the Copdock Interchange has been reunited with her lifesavers.
Sam Eley, from Ipswich, was driving southbound on the A12 on July 5 last year when she was involved in a horror crash which left her fighting for her life.
The 26-year-old was flown to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge where she spent several days in an induced coma before waking up unable to remember what happened.
Thanks to the quick actions of emergency services such as ambulance crews, police and the air ambulance Sam survived – and is recovering with the help of her family and friends.
This week she got the chance to thank the paramedics who helped to save her life.
Ambulance technician Anna George and paramedic Nick Pope from Saxmundham ambulance station were first on the scene of Sam’s crash alongside Sonia Saunders, a community first responder from Leiston.
After meeting them on Wednesday, Sam said: “It went really well. I didn’t recognise them which was odd to start with because I don’t remember anything from the accident but we got along really well and they were telling me how they came to be there.
“It was just really good to finally meet them to say thank you to them in person.
“Along with the air ambulance and other people who stopped to help they saved my life and we will always be grateful for that.”
Anna had been working the day shift when her crew received a call to Sam’s crash at around 12pm on July 5.
She said: “Sonia had actually been on another job earlier in the morning – she had got up at 2.30am. She was with another crew and they were treating an older man who was in a stable condition but needed hospital treatment.
“We took Sonia in our ambulance after picking her up with the aim of taking her home but were called to the crash just before we were able to.
“She’d been in and out of the hospital helping other crews.
She added: “We were so delighted to meet Sam and were thrilled to see she has recovered so well.
“Sonia as a first responder doesn’t often get to see patients after she treats them so it was brilliant all round.”
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