Aspiring nurse meets Preston medical staff who saved her life falling from Fudstock fairground ride

Video report by ITV Granada Reports journalist Tim Scott.

An aspiring nurse has met the medical staff who saved her life after she spent three weeks in a coma when she fell from a fairground ride.

Chloe Austin was just 20 when she suffered multiple broken bones and organ damage following the accident at the Fudstock festival in Barrow-in-Furness.

She was thrown out of, and then dragged underneath, a fairground ride while it was still in motion.

It was feared she would not survive her injuries, and of the 90-days spent at the Royal Preston Hospital, Chloe spent three weeks in a coma, underwent five emergency operations and was told she may never walk again.

Now, in an emotional reunion a year after the accident in August 2021, the trainee nurse has returned to the hospital's trauma centre to thank staff for getting her walking again.

Chloe explained: "I was a 20-year-old lass going through all these life-changing injuries and they deal with on a day-to-day basis.

"I just needed that support and that's what they gave me. The support and reassurance didn't go unnoticed at all."

Consultant Amol Chitray explained there were dozens of experts on hand when Chloe was first brought in to the Major Trauma Centre.

He said: "Chloe had a very high concentration of highly skilled people involved in her care from the outset."

Hundreds of thousands of people from around the globe watched Chloe's journey to recovery on the social media platform TikTok.

Despite her injuries, the three months in hospital gave her an invaluable insight into her chosen career in nursing.

She said: "I only knew what it was like to be student nurse, treating patients. But I feel like I have that patient experience, being bed-bound and suffering with injuries.

"It makes you see things from a completely different point of view now."

Doctors have predicted it will take Chloe around two years to fully recover from the accident.

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