Survivor of horror crash reunited with medics who saved his life

A driver who was pulled from his burning car after a 100mph motorway crash has been reunited with the emergency medics who helped save his life.

Storm Warner, 22, was treated on the M1 as his car exploded around him. He was taken to the major trauma centre at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington then transferred to Hammersmith Hospital for emergency surgery.

He lost 45 per cent of his liver and spent almost a month in a coma. Doctors told him he was lucky to be alive.

Mr Warner made a plea to find his life-savers in the Standard last month. It was spotted by Susanna Trow, a London Ambulance paramedic and friend of Laura Wallace, a medic at the scene. He was reunited with Ms Wallace, Phil Smith, Emily Wallis and Julia Horswell, of the East of England Ambulance Service, at Hemel Hempstead ambulance station. Mr Warner, who believes he fell asleep or blacked out at the wheel, said: “I asked everyone, what gift do you bring? How do you thank someone for saving your life? You can’t.

“It still hasn’t sunk in. My family and friends were devastated. A friend said, ‘I thought you were gone’.”

The crash happened at about 1.30am on June 9 last year as Mr Warner drove home to Dunstable after a night out in London. He cannot remember the incident, near junction eight, but has been told that traffic was being diverted into the fast lane because of roadworks when he hit the back of a slow-moving trailer lorry. Ms Wallace, 31, was first on the scene in a fast-response car, closely followed by duty officer Phil Smith, 44, and emergency medical technicians Ms Wallis, 27, and Ms Horswell, 34.

Two lorry drivers are thought to have pulled Mr Warner from the vehicle. He was lying on the road in pain with a broken ankle. Ms Wallace said: “There were explosions from the car a couple of minutes later, which I assume was the fuel tank.” Mr Smith said: “Metal flew off into the side of my car. You can imagine what his body went through when you see the damage to the vehicle.”

Ms Wallis said they could see the crash on the opposite carriageway as they raced south from Luton. “We saw the fire and thought, ‘Oh my God.’”

They provided intravenous morphine for pain relief and spent 45 minutes with him before he was taken to St Mary’s. Mr Warner also suffered a punctured lung, fractured hip, facial injuries and broken ribs. Discharged after three months, he surprised doctors by getting back on his feet, using crutches, by September.

His skydive this month raised more than £1,000 for the Imperial Health Charity, which supports the care at St Mary’s and Hammersmith. He said: “I appreciate how lucky I am. I make more effort to see my parents and my sisters. My dad said, ‘All that National Insurance I have paid has paid off.’”