A WOMAN involved in a dramatic accident on the A64 is a pub landlady who has spent years raising money for the air ambulance that came to her crash scene.
Sue Rice, pictured below, has held a big fundraising event every August Bank Holiday weekend for the past four years, at the Hyde Park in Norton, near Malton.
She was inspired to help the service after it rescued her son Gavin when he was badly hurt in a head-on motorcycle crash in East Yorkshire in 2010.
>>> Flashback: Amazing escape for crash biker Gavin
On Saturday afternoon, Mrs Rice was in a Jaguar car that came off the A64 dual carriageway just south of the Hopgrove Roundabout on York's outskirts and ended up in a ditch.
Her husband Steve today said she was expected to be released from hospital later this week and thanked hundreds of well-wishers.
He said: "She is on the mend and doing well," he said.
"We have had hundreds of calls to the pub from people wishing her well and the family would like to thank everyone for their good wishes and also the emergency services for their help."
The wreckage after the crash. Picture: Sgt Paul Cording
An air ambulance helicopter landed on the carriageway on Saturday, but Mrs Rice was eventually taken to York Hospital by road ambulance, suffering from fractures. The road was closed for several hours.
Three others in the vehicle were walking wounded, and the survival of the four in the wrecked car was branded 'incredible' in a police officer's tweet.
In 2010, the helicopter heroes flew Mrs Rice's son Gavin to hospital for treatment for a catalogue of horrifying injuries including a crushed and broken leg, a thigh bone snapped in half, three breaks in his arm, two breaks in his knee, two broken fingers, three broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken shoulder and a broken collar bone.
How to help....
- Yorkshire Air Ambulance needs to raise £9,990 a day to maintain and operate its helicopters, and as a charity it relies heavily on public generosity. To donate, text YAAC00 and your amount (eg YAAC00 £3) to 70070 or visit https://www.yorkshireairambulance.org.uk/donate/ for more information and ways to help.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article