Trauma survivors share stories for Leeds charity appeal

Three survivors of major injuries – including a woman hit by a tractor and a man hurt in the Manchester Arena bombing – have shared their experiences for a BBC charity appeal.

They will appear with presenter and bomb blast survivor JJ Chalmers in a short film on behalf of Day One Trauma – a Leeds-based charity that helps those with life-changing injuries.

A nine-year-old girl who broke 15 bones in her skull in a zorbing incident will also share her story.

Short film Lifeline: Day One Trauma Support will be broadcast on BBC One at 14:15 BST.

Mr Chalmers, a former Royal Marines commando who was severely injured in an explosion while serving in Afghanistan when he was 23, will introduce the survivors.

Lily-Mae, from Wakefield, was just seven when a zorb ball hit her while she was on holiday at a caravan park, knocking her face-first into the concrete ground.

As well as the broken bones in her skull, she suffered a brain injury, and breaks to her eye sockets and the roof of her mouth.

Lily-Mae had to stay in hospital for a week and while her brain injury was not severe, her mother said that her behaviour had changed and she was not as confident as she used to be.

Katie West said Day One Trauma had been “like a family” to them and helped with practical things such as “navigating the complicated new world of medical appointments”.

Ms West had to give up work to care for Lily-Mae and the charity helped with financial advice about grants and benefits she could apply for.

She said: “It’s such an amazing charity as you never know what’s around the corner – it could be you and your family that need that support one day.”

Paul Price was injured in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.

He was stood next to his partner and “love of his life” Elaine, who died instantly at the scene.

Mr Price, from Woolton in Liverpool, had to spend nine months in hospital where he had 35 procedures for his injuries, which included severe burns, broken bones, a shattered leg, loss of hearing and embedded shrapnel in his groin, pelvis and back.

He said his prognosis was “grim” and he might still lose one of his legs but Day One Trauma had transformed his life – to the point he now worked with them.

Mr Price, 57, said: “Sharing this nationally is crucial to reach others who feel alone in their struggles, showing them that recovery is possible and inspiring them to take that first step.”

Meanwhile Lucie Maguire, 23, spent 18 months in hospital after being hit by a tractor in 2021.

Her injuries were so severe that doctors compared them to those seen on bomb victims.

After her car broke down on a country lane in North Yorkshire, as she got out to help her mother, she was knocked over and dragged under the tractor’s 10-tonne trailer.

She woke up a month later in intensive car after having her right leg amputated, as well as the right side of her pelvis.

Medics told Ms Maguire, from Kirkby Malzeard, the injuries were so bad, including a lot of her internal organs no longer working, they had to get advice from specialist military doctors.

She spent 518 days in hospital and, as the reality of being an amputee set in, Lucie’s “world came crashing down” and she started suffering from depression.

But Day One Trauma offered Ms Maguire – and her mother – emotional support as well as help to access benefits and adapt to life as a young disabled woman.

Ms Maguire said: “I do feel like they saved my life. They were one of my constants.

“I believe passionately that everyone should get the same support I did, wherever they are in the country.”

Day One Trauma Support provides practical and emotional support, alongside NHS clinical care, for patients and their loved ones for as long as they need it.

It also offers a bedside service for patients and is run in part by volunteers who have experienced major trauma themselves.

Invictus Games winner Mr Chalmers, 38, who is also a patron for Help for Heroes, said: “For those who experience major traumatic injuries, it can seem like their whole world has changed forever, leaving them feeling not only pain, but alone as well… a feeling I know only too well.

“The ripple effect is massive too, with family, friends and colleagues all impacted.

“And the sad truth is thousands of people aren’t getting the support they need to help rebuild their lives again.”