A four-year-old boy who lost his mother and great-grandmother in the same crash where he nearly died has handed over a huge donation to the air medics who saved his life.

Logan Murdoch, of Morton, Carlisle, was serious injured in the horrific collision on the A595 at Newby Cross, near Carlisle, on February 23 last year.

But he has made a miraculous recovery thanks to the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), which rushed to the scene and airlifted the youngster to hospital.

His mother Hayley Murdoch, 29, and great-grandmother Sheila Dixon, 70, sadly died at the scene.

Sheila’s husband, Jonah Dixon, 74, was also seriously injured and will never walk unaided again.

Logan, his dad John Murdoch and his grandmother Karen Rooney visited the GNAAS's Langwathby base to hand over £4,260 in memory of Hayley and Sheila.

The donation has been made by the National Day Nursery Association (NDNA) and has come from all the nurseries involved across north Cumbria, including First Steps Day Nursery, where Hayley worked and where Logan attended nursery.

Events to raise cash included a balloon races, bingo nights and cake sales.

Tracey Turnbull, manager of First Steps, said: "I nominated the charity because Hayley had worked for us for 11 years.

"It was a big thing and they saved Logan's life."

First Steps raised about £3,000 and split their donation between the NDNA pot, going toward the GNAAS, and the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at the RVI where Logan was cared for in the aftermath of the crash.

John, 32, said: "It's always brilliant to come back here.

"It left me devastated losing Hayley but to still have Logan it just gives you something to live for.

"You can't put it into words."

Karen, 52, who lost both her mother and daughter in the crash, said: "It's unbelievable what they have done because without them, we wouldn't have Logan. They definitely saved his life.

"He keeps us going and is the only thing that keeps us going."

She said Logan is the gift her daughter left her.


Speaking of the generous donation, Dr Laura Duffy, who attended the crash, added: "It's fantastic.

"It will allow us to buy more medical interventions and help us to fly to do the job we do.

"We run off charity donations and we would not be here without people raising them for us.

"It's just amazing. It's the third or fourth time I have seen Logan, which is lovely."

The unexpected survivor

Logan Murdoch was an unexpected survivor – but someone who managed to defy the odds thanks to the swift actions of the Great North Air Ambulance Service.

The youngster was three at the time of the crash near Carlisle which claimed the life of his mother and great-grandmother.

He was “internally decapitated” – a separation of the spinal column from the base of the skull – and was left so seriously injured he was not breathing when help arrived.

Laura Duffy, the air doctor who treated Logan, along with paramedic Colin Clark, said: “Essentially he was dead when I got to him. He had stopped breathing.”

Logan was resuscitated at the scene and again on the journey to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI).

The team used a breathing tube, stopped his bleeding and stabilised his neck.

He had a broken collar bone and the blood vessels underneath had ruptured.

Dr Duffy said Logan is an “unexpected survivor” and she highlighted his story at a regional trauma conference in Newcastle in May.

“According to statistics he should have died,” she said.

“To see such a horrible crash where two people died at the scene, it was an awful, awful job.

“It’s a bit bittersweet but it’s nice to see him do so well. It didn’t look good for him.

“It was probably one of the worst I have been to.”

Logan also suffered brain injuries, a punctured lung and a broken collar bone.

He spent two weeks at Newcastle RVI and then more than a week in the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle.

His dad John Murdoch explained that only five per cent of people survive internal decapitation.

Physically he has made a full recovery but the extent of his brain injuries and his recovery from them will only become clear over time, meaning he will be under assessment until adulthood.