A TEENAGER who suffered 25 fractures, two bleeds on the brain, lung injuries and nearly bit off his tongue would have died had it not been for a lifesaving new scheme.

Seventeen-year-old James Atkinson was critically ill when air crew paramedics arrived at the scene near Wigton.

The Carlisle College student had been riding his moped when he skidded on ice, catapulting him into Sebergham Bridge before he rebounded into the path of an oncoming car. The vehicle then dragged him 20m along the road.

James, from Hesket Newmarket, bit his tongue almost entirely off during the horrific crash on November 21 and was left fighting for his life.

He recalled: “The car ran over my pelvis and rib cage and just missed my head. The front right wheel left skid marks on my leg.”

James suffered 25 fractures to his body, two bleeds on the brain, lung contusions, a lacerated tongue and extreme bruising. His dad, who had been driving a short distance behind him at the time, came across the crash.

“He arrived soon after it had happened,” James added, “and he saw a car across the bridge and my bike propped up against the wall as someone had moved it. It was pretty traumatic for him. He ran over and managed to wake me as I had been unconscious for about 10 minutes.

“He popped the lock on the strap of my helmet as I was choking on my tongue and blood. I had been dragged along the road by my helmet and it had been cutting into my jaw, which meant I’d bitten my tongue and it was left hanging on by a centimetre.

“As he unclipped the strap, my tongue fell out.”

Emergency services were sent to the scene and the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) was called into action.

GNAAS doctor Dion Arbid and paramedic Paul Burnage worked alongside a BASICS doctor and North West Ambulance Service paramedics to anaesthetise and intubate him at the roadside.

James was then given two units of blood en route to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, where he spent three weeks recovering from his injuries.

The transfusion was only possible thanks to the Blood on Board initiative, which launched in January 2015. It sees air ambulance crews equipped with blood to provide immediate and life- saving transfusions, rather than being forced to wait until a casualty is in hospital.

The teenager, who studies computer science at college, said: “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for GNAAS and Blood on Board.

“It is a service that is desperately needed. There’s no chance that I would have survived without it.”

James is still on the road to recovery and sees an occupational therapist once a week.

He continued: “It will still take some time, but generally my recovery has been really good. The brain damage and my wrist will take a bit longer.

“The experience has reiterated the importance of the service.

“It was something that I didn’t really think about before and I will certainly value it more. We are lucky to have such a service in Cumbria.”

James already has plans to raise funds for GNAAS.