Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury biker bounces back from horror crash to complete half marathon for lifesaving rescue team

A woman who was so badly hurt in a crash she spent seven weeks in hospital bounced back to complete a half marathon and raise funds for the team who helped save her.

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Ruth Cork from Shrewsbury was riding her motorbike on the A65 at Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria with a friend, who was on a separate bike, on August 19 of 2022 when she was involved in a collision with a car.

Miss Cork, who is 36, can't recall the crash itself to this day. Several of her bones were broken including her femur, pelvis, sacrum (at the base of the spine), jaw and cheekbone.

She also suffered a bleed on the brain and a number of crushed vertebrae.

Ruth's Triumph bike

A critical care team from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) flew to the scene by helicopter and worked with the North West Ambulance Service to help Miss Cork.

She was given a blood transfusion and flown to Royal Preston Hospital in 14 minutes. She spent the next seven weeks in hospital and underwent surgery to mend some of her broken bones.

Ruth Cork in hospital

Because she worked in the military, she was then transferred to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Stanford Hall near Loughborough, and regained the ability to walk over the next 14 weeks.

She had been planning to run the 2022 Shrewsbury Half Marathon but had to pull out because of her injuries.