THE father of a teenage girl who survived an horrific car crash near York is to raise cash for the air ambulance he believes saved her life.

Mark Wishart, 45, is organising a charity bike ride to support the Great North Air Ambulance, which airlifted 16-year-old Robyn from the wreckage of the smash on the A64.

Robyn was seriously hurt when her boyfriend's Citroen Saxo overturned on the dual carriageway and plunged down an embankment near the A19 at Fulford.

The accident happened on September 23 as the teenager was returning from a day out at Flamingo Land, near Pickering, with Jonathan Peter Glynn, 17. He was killed in the smash.

Now Mark is set to ride from his home in Leeds to lay a wreath at the crash site on the charity day on November 26.

He said: "The reason I'm doing it is to put something back because, without them, my daughter could have been in a box.

"Even if I make only £3,000, that is one airlift.

"You do not realise you need it until it happens.

"I want to put something back so that if somebody else's daughter is in the same situation as mine, I want to say that I have tried to help."

Last week in The Press, Mark paid tribute to York scaffolder Adam Hayes, 28, who saw the accident and looked after Robyn as she lay injured.

Now he wants to thank life-saving air ambulance paramedics - and he is appealing for businesses to sponsor the cycle ride.

"I'm just trying to say thank you to all those people," he said. "I'm doing it because I have got a second chance with my daughter which I did not think I would have.

"You bring children in the world hopefully to die after you have died. I am so grateful she is still on this planet."

He will undertake the 45-mile round trip with 14 other people to represent the number of months Robyn was together with Jonathan and how many roses she sent to his funeral.

"They were sweethearts," he said. "They saw each other every day. They loved each other."

Mark said Robyn was continuing to make good progress in Leeds General Infirmary after an operation.

He said: "I think she could be home soon.

"She is doing so well. I am over the moon at how fast she is recovering."