Co Down teenager: Air Ambulance staff saved my life after quad bike crash

Last July, Ellie McDonnell, 15, was riding her quad on her family’s farm in Portaferry when she collided with a jeep driven by her mother at a blind corner on the lane leading to their home.

Ellie was thrown from the quad into the windscreen of the jeep, before landing in a ditch at the side of the lane.

She sustained broken arms, legs, eye sockets, cheeks and teeth and had severe swelling on her brain. She was transported to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast by Air Ambulance Northern Ireland.

Ellie said she doesn’t “remember much about that day”.

“All I know is that the air ambulance saved my life and without them I wouldn’t be sitting here today,” she added.

“I would just like to thank Air Ambulance NI for all that they have done for me.”

The Air Ambulance medical put Ellie into an induced coma to protect her brain, a procedure that can usually only be done in a hospital environment.

The Air Ambulance medical team includes both a doctor and a paramedic so they are able to carry out urgent medical care at the scene.

Ellie spent eight weeks in hospital, two of which she was in a medically-induced coma. Her family had been told to prepare for the worst as the extent of her injuries left doctors unsure of whether she would ever be able to walk or talk again.

She has since made a remarkable recovery and is now back at school studying for her GCSEs with plans to pursue a career in medicine.

Kerry Anderson, head of fundraising for Air Ambulance NI, said: “We’re so glad to hear that Ellie is making such great strides in her recovery.

“Air Ambulance NI is a vital service that depends on public donations.

“It costs £5,500 per day to keep our helicopter in the sky and accidents like this prove how important that is.”