Teenager in miracle recovery

​Teenager Ali Phillips has made a miracle recovery just three months after a car smash left him fighting for his life.

Now the 18-year-old is searching for the good Samaritan who, he says, helped save his life.

Doctors have been amazed at Ali’s quick turnaround.

He suffered brain injuries following the car crash near Tewkesbury.

But now, not only is he walking and talking again, but he’s already back working as an apprentice mechanic at Aston Cross garage J D Auto Service.

“I’ve been very lucky. I think someone up there is watching over me,” Ali said.

“After leaving hospital, I made a ridiculously quick recovery. All the doctors couldn’t believe it. They were pretty shocked.

“They thought I would make a quick recovery, being a teenager, but they never thought it would be this quick.”

Ali can’t remember much about his accident, but has been told a motorist stopped to help after he lost control of his car near Kinsham. His Ford Fiesta careered into a tree and his head hit a sawn-off branch.

He said: “Luckily for me, the woman who stopped was a trainee doctor. I was still semi-conscious, touching my head and trying to get out of the car.

“She kept me still and kept my hands down by my legs so I didn’t touch my head.

“She quite probably saved my life.”

The teenager, of Plantation Crescent, Bredon, was in an induced coma for 10 days.

He was treated for two weeks, firstly at Selly Oak Hospital, in Birmingham, and then in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

A hole was drilled into his head so a device could be fitted to monitor the pressure on his brain.

Ali’s family – parents Jeremy and Angela and brothers Ben and Richard – said they are grateful he recovered so quickly.

Jeremy said: “Since he came around, it’s been a very speedy recovery which has amazed everyone. It’s miraculous.”

The accident happened at 8.30am on October 27 as Ali drove along his usual route from his home to work.

Police say he was not speeding but that the road was wet and muddy.

His brother Ben has raised money for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s neurological critical care unit to thank staff for their care. The 13-year-old raised £312 from a cake sale and a quiz.

After the accident, police said they could not help Ali and his family get in touch with the trainee doctor who found him for reasons of confidentiality, but now the force says it is willing to do so.

West Mercia police spokesman Richard Bull said he would try to put the two parties in touch with each other.

He said: “We’re grateful for any input members of the public have at road traffic incidents.”