Source: ChronicleLive.co.uk
As he clung to life in hospital, Lee McCurry’s devastated family thought he would never make it.
Left with horrendous head injuries when he was knocked flying by a taxi, the 29-year-old’s chance of survival looked slim as he lay critically ill in intensive care with tubes and a ventilator keeping him alive.
But the refuse collector, who was hit as he crossed the road less than two weeks ago, is today at home after a recovery he describes as a ‘miracle’.
And as Lee struggles to comprehend how he came to survive the injuries that medics said would have killed most, his dad Thomas, has told of the agonising 19-hour journey he made to be at his son’s bedside, and his relief at seeing his strapping lad pull through.
Lee had been for a quiet pint with a mate at the Station Hotel, in Whitley Bay, before he was struck by the black cab, as he crossed Whitley Road, during the early hours of Saturday, March 5.
The force of the collision flung him onto the taxi’s windscreen and sent him flying over the car before he crashed to the ground on a zebra crossing.
He was unconscious when paramedics arrived and was rushed to North Tyneside General Hospital where his life hung in the balance for days.
Lee, of West Monkseaton, near Whitley Bay, said: “It all happened so quick,
“I didn’t see it coming until it was on me. I hit the front, cracked my head off the windscreen and flew over the back of the car.
“I can’t remember anything after that. When I got to hospital I had to have oxygen pumped into me, my head was swollen to the max and there was loads of fluid around my brain.
“I can’t remember being in intensive care but my family say they thought I was a goner.”
Lee lives with his dad Thomas, but the engineer was working away on an oil rig in the North Sea, off Scand-inavia, when his son was hit.
The first he knew of the incident was when he received a tearful phone-call at 3am from his daughter Gemma, 27, who was in a police car being driven to the hospital.
But it was to be a torturous almost 20-hour wait before Thomas, 57, could get to his son.
“I was just checking my messages at 3am when I saw a text asking me to phone home urgently,” he said. “When I rang my daughter she was in a police car and was very upset.”
But Thomas had to wait on the rig for five hours before he could get to shore.
And with no direct flights from the nearest airport to Newcastle, he faced a further flight and wait to get to Amsterdam for a connection.
“It was just horrendous,” he said. “I was just numb the whole time.
“I wasn’t expecting Lee to survive. “That was the worst journey of my life. I was just thinking the worst the whole time.” Thomas finally made it to the hospital at 10pm.
And when he arrived at Lee’s bed-side he was greeted with the heart-breaking sight of the son who had been fit and strong the last time he saw him, being kept alive by machines.
“I thought he was gone,” he said. “He had all these tubes in his arms and down his nose.
“To me he looked dead.
“I had to watch them take him off the ventilator, and he panicked as he gasped for breath and tried to breathe by himself.
“Thankfully he can’t remember that, but seeing that has scarred me for life.”
But Lee managed to breathe on his own and after that the speed of his recovery stunned all his family and friends, especially when on Tuesday medics said he was well-enough to come home.
“No one can believe it, that he’s home,” said Thomas.
“He’s pulled out all the stops. I really can’t believe he’s still here. That team in Rake Lane Hospital are fantastic.”
Thomas has brought his son a T-Shirt saying “Iron Man” in celebration of his survival.”
Lee will need to wait until the swelling in his head goes down before more scans reveal just how bad the damage is.
A 63-year-old man, who the Chronicle understands to be the taxi driver, has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, in connection with the incident. He was released on bail.
Read Original Story http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/03/18/whitley-bay-man-hit-by-taxi-tells-of-his-ordeal-72703-28360093/2/#ixzz1GzN4UqBW
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
If this I’d true then why hasnt it been reported that Lee is s violent drug user who attacks people for no reason and has cocessed to many people that he jumped in front if the taxi on purpose in a plan to get compensation
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
I believe that Lee was off his head in the Station Hotel pub (about 150 yards from where the accident happened). The police were called to the pub because of his behaviour so I assume there will be some record of this.
My take for what it’s worth:-
Lee was off his head on drink and drugs
He caused the accident, i.e. he ran into the path of the oncoming car
Because of vulture lawyers the car driver has been charged with careless driving
I think its about time the police wised up to this kind of incident
Poor Lee is the innocent victim and wants shedloads of money to make him feel better… or maybe to spend on more drugs
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
no one i have picked up has a good word to say about him but its always the poor taxi driver thats in the wrong
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade