Harrogate teenager hit by tractor speaks of ordeal

Lucie Maguire was just 19 when she was hit by a tractor and dragged along the road under its 10-tonne trailer.

The nursery apprentice was a passenger in her mum Sue’s car as they travelled from Lucie’s work in Ripley, near Harrogate, back to their home village of Kirkby Malzeard, when their car filled with smoke.

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Lucie on her 19th birthday before the accident (Image: Supplied)

Sue pulled over on Fountains Road, a country lane between Ripley and Bishop Thornton, shortly after 5pm. It was dark and Lucie got out and went to the driver’s door to help her mum out of the car. That’s when she saw bright lights heading towards her and was hit by a tractor and dragged along the road underneath it’s trailer. 

"I was stuck under there going round continuously with the wheels and it spat me out a bit further down the road," said Lucie.

“I accepted I was probably going to die because surely nobody survives what I’d just been through.

“When I woke up a month later in the intensive care unit I could see my mum at the foot of my bed and my dad was stroking my hair. I couldn’t talk, I struggled to breathe, and I was in so much pain. I had no idea about the severity of my injuries. It was a few days before they told me I had no right leg." 

Lucie with mum Sue in hospital (Image: Supplied)

Because of restrictions in place due to the Covid pandemic, Lucie was taken by ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary – home to the region’s major trauma centre – accompanied only by the paramedics.

On arrival at LGI Lucie was placed in an induced coma and woke up a month later in the intensive care unit.

During that time her parents had been allowed to visit to say their ‘goodbyes’ as medics feared Lucie wouldn’t survive the severe internal bleeding. They didn’t know if Lucie would ever be able to sit up, let alone walk.

Lucie, now 22, had her right leg amputated at the hip, broke her back and suffered internal injuries.

She spent months in hospital, undergoing numerous operations as doctors compared her injuries to a bomb blast victim.

They liaised with military doctors from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

It took months for Lucie to sit up, and eventually stand and walk while holding rails.

Lucie in hospital with staff (Image: Supplied)

Throughout her stay at LGI, including during Christmas 2021, Lucie and her mum were supported by Day One Trauma Support – a charity set up to help families affected by catastrophic injuries. 

When she left hospital on 28 June 2022 – 518 days later – she had to live in a makeshift bedroom in the restaurant of her parents’ pub The Queens Head as she couldn’t use the stairs to access the family home above.

Lucie and mum Sue (Image: John Clifton)

Now she lives in her own bungalow in the village and uses a power-assisted wheelchair to live as independently as she can, still supported by her parents and sisters Zanne, Sammi and Chloe.

Lucie continues to have further operations, including removal of her bladder in the near future.
To support Lucie visit dayonetrauma.org/donate

Donations to the charity made between now and January 3 will be doubled thanks to match funding by Aviva Community Fund. This means a donation of £32.36 will cover two hours of listening, advice and support for someone in need this festive season.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police has said their investigation has concluded and the tractor driver won’t face any charges.

Lucy is the face of the charity's Christmas appeal (Image: Supplied)