A woman who was involved in a serious crash has met the people who saved her life

A woman who was involved in a serious road crash has met the people who saved her life.

Julie Johnson from Donwell in Washington, was making her way to her daughter's house to visit her on Mother’s Day 2012, when her car crashed into another vehicle near Houghton-le- Spring.

A trauma team from the Great North Air Ambulance Service was sent to the scene.

Mrs Johnson, 46, an office worker at Npower in Houghton-le- Spring, said:

Her daughter, Danielle Piper, 31, from Ashington, recalled the moment she found out her mother had been involved in a crash.

Julie's injuries were worse than medics initially thought.

She had broken her neck in two places, as well as her collar bone and shoulder blade.

Eleven of Julie's ribs were also broken as well as extensive damage to an optical nerve.

Dr Dion Arbid, a doctor on board the GNAAS aircraft, was flown to the scene alongside an aircrew paramedic.

The specialist team put her into a medically induced coma, a procedure only carried out in the most serious of cases.

After treatment, she was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

Mrs Johnson has had four operations on her neck and two operations on her eyes. As a result of her injuries, she still suffers from pain and is affected by double vision.

Five years on from her life-changing accident, Julie has visited the GNAAS airbase at Durham Tees Valley Airport to pay a personal thanks to Dr Arbid.