Personal injury news

Teenager suffers severe spinal cord injury in car accident

A teenage girl from Scotland has been told she will never walk again after receiving serious spinal cord injuries in a car accident. Heather Hird, 15, was travelling back from a football match with her parents when their Ford Mondeo skidded off the carriageway of the A9 and crashed head-on into a barrier.

Her parents walked away relatively unscathed and free from personal injury, but firefighters struggled for 90 minutes in the freezing weather to free Heather. She was then rushed to Stirling Royal Infirmary where doctors revealed the extent of her spinal cord injuries.

The teenager’s mother, Heidie, released a statement saying, “At the moment she’s paralysed from the chest downwards, including her arms, but they might get some movement back.

“It’s very sad because she’s got her whole life ahead of her and I can’t believe how strong she’s being.”

Heather is a big Dundee United fan and was travelling back from their Boxing Day clash with Kilmarnock when the car crash happened, and several footballers from her favourite team have since been to visit her in hospital, presenting her with a signed shirt, flowers and photographs.

Despite her severe spinal cord injuries, her family are just glad that their daughter is alive after the terrible car accident. Her father said, “If she hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt she wouldn’t be with us now, that’s for sure.”