Positivity: ‘They’re amazing – I wouldn’t be alive without their help’
10 May 2008
As teenager Jessica Barnett smiles and jokes, it is hard to imagine the pain she has suffered.
Only 14 months ago, she was a victim in an horrific road smash which almost cost the 19-year-old her life. The Renault Clio she was driving was hit by an ambulance on the A32 at Mislingford, near Wickham, on February 9 last year.Jessica suffered a horrific head injury so severe that when Dr Steve Smallwood and consultant anaesthetist Sam Hutchings – all three are pictured on the front page – reached her they were almost certain she would not survive.
But thanks to the life-saving efforts of the doctors – who were volunteers with the Hampshire branch of the British Association of Immediate Care at the time – she pulled through.
Yesterday it was all smiles as the trio were reunited for the first time since Jessica’s brush with death, and she was delighted to meet the people who saved her life.
She said: ‘I think they’re amazing. I can’t thank them enough. They are just fantastic people. I know for a fact I wouldn’t be alive if they hadn’t helped me. That’s why I’m so thankful to them.’
Dr Smallwood, who is also a GP at the Wickham Group Surgery in Station Road, Wickham, said: ‘When I got there, Jessica was in the car. There was a paramedic looking after her, supporting her head and trying to keep her airways open.
‘She was deeply unconscious and had clearly suffered a severe head injury. I said at the time they will be turning the ventilator off in a few days. It’s amazing how well she’s done.
‘Seeing people like Jessica is the reason we do it. She’s the proof that what we do works.’ …..
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