Victim of head-on Asfordby Hill collision to skydive in aid of air ambulance

A former Melton dental nurse who sustained multiple injuries in a head-on collision on an icy road at Asfordby Hill is to do a skydive to raise money for the air ambulance service which came to her aid.
By Nick Rennie
Published 4th Mar 2020, 17:32 GMT
Katie Pease (right) and her friend Chelsea Longstaff, who are to a fundraising skydive in aid of the air ambulance EMN-200403-172137001Katie Pease (right) and her friend Chelsea Longstaff, who are to a fundraising skydive in aid of the air ambulance EMN-200403-172137001
Katie Pease (right) and her friend Chelsea Longstaff, who are to a fundraising skydive in aid of the air ambulance EMN-200403-172137001

Katie Pease (26) had to be cut from her car by firefighters following the incident in November 16 when the impact pushed the engine back into her legs.

She sustained catastrophic injuries including two broken femurs, a smashed left knee and foot, six broken ribs, a lacerated spleen, a collapsed lung and a broken right collar bone.

Within six minutes of a 999 call being made, a Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA) crew took off from their base at East Midlands Airport and arrived at the crash scene near Melton 14 minutes later.

Flashback to April 2017 - Katie Pease, with mum Georgina, thank Melton firefighters for their response when she was left badly injured and trapped in the wreckage of her car after a collision near Melton EMN-200403-172447001Flashback to April 2017 - Katie Pease, with mum Georgina, thank Melton firefighters for their response when she was left badly injured and trapped in the wreckage of her car after a collision near Melton EMN-200403-172447001
Flashback to April 2017 - Katie Pease, with mum Georgina, thank Melton firefighters for their response when she was left badly injured and trapped in the wreckage of her car after a collision near Melton EMN-200403-172447001

Getting Katie to the nearest major trauma hospital as quickly as possible was crucial and it took the helicopter just 10 minutes to fly her to Nottingham for a quick transfer by land ambulance to the Queen’s Medical Centre. The same journey by road – without any hold ups – would take half-an-hour.

She said: “If I hadn’t been flown in the air ambulance it may be that I wouldn’t have made it. I could have lost my leg or my life.”

Katie, who was working as a locum at MyDentist on Asfordby Road in Melton at the time of the collision, had to be given multiple units of blood before she could be operated on and she spent two-and-a-half weeks in hospital before being allowed home.

“I was told that I wouldn’t be able to walk more than 100 yards and would never be able to do a job other than a desk job,” she said.

“The worst case scenario was that I might have to come to terms with being a wheelchair user.”

But Katie was determined to make the best recovery she could and seven weeks after the accident was able to stand up using crutches and within nine months of it she was walking and able to return to work.

“I will always be grateful and thankful for all of the help I had getting me to hospital quickly and the treatment which resulted in my leg being saved,” she added.

Despite her injuries - she suffers from arthritis and is in constant pain - Katie is amazingly taking on a skydive on April 3 at Langer Skydiving Centre with her friend, Chelsea Longstaff (27).

The aim is to raise funds for, and awareness of, the local air ambulance charity, because, she says: “The air ambulance doesn’t get enough recognition.”

In April 2017, Katie visited Melton Fire Station to thank firefighters for what they did for her in the aftermath of the crash, which happened on the A6006.

Go online at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Katie-Pease to sponsor Katie and Chelsea on their brave fundraising mission.

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