Georgia Scully was 23 when she suffered catastrophic injuries in a car crash in Huddersfield on 27 August 2022. She was cut free from the wreckage by firefighters and taken to Leeds Major Trauma Centre, based at Leeds General Infirmary, with broken ribs, a ruptured spleen, damaged lungs, and a severe bleed on her brain, which resulted in a life-changing brain injury.
As Georgia lay in a coma in hospital, her family were told she may never wake up, and if she did she may not walk or talk again. When Georgia did wake up four weeks later, she couldn’t speak to communicate to her worried parents. She had also lost movement in her right side resulting in nurses using a hoist to help her move.
Georgia’s parents Sharon and Darren Scully, from Elland, West Yorkshire, were given emotional, practical and financial support in hospital by charity Day One Trauma Support, whose caseworker suggested Georgia’s sister Nicole, then 21, create a playlist of Georgia’s favourite songs to help her recovery.
To everyone’s surprise, when the music played Georgia burst out into song, singing along to Cardi B’s Bodak Yellow and Adele’s Someone Like You – word perfect, despite not being able to form sentences to tell her parents how she felt.
When Georgia did eventually regain the use of her speech, she was able to share that she thought she was 16 years old and still at school, despite being 23 and working as an office administrator at Checkmate Fire Solutions based in her home-town Elland. Due to post-traumatic amnesia, Georgia remained confused for months and is still unable to remember anything about the day and night leading up to the crash.
Georgia was in hospital for four months, learning to walk and talk again. She was fitted with a titanium plate in her skull just before Christmas 2022, resulting in swelling over her eyes, making it difficult to see.
Two years on and Georgia has regained full speech and movement, but is still recovering at home with her parents, returning to the gym and catching a bus on her own for the first time. She has also lost her sense of smell and taste.
Georgia and her family have shared their story for the first time in a video to launch Day One Trauma Support’s 2024 Christmas appeal. A Day One caseworker helped the Scullys with emotional support, an emergency grant to cover costs such as travel and parking, and signposting to legal support. Between April and September 2024, the charity received 1,170 referrals – a 69% increase on the previous six months, gave 6,000 minutes of peer support, and awarded £73,762 in grants.
“People don’t realise the family need support as much as the patient. I still get very confused and muddled. But I think positively about the future now. I have a bus pass, like an old lady, and am starting to go back to the gym. It’s taken two years to get this far and I know I have a long way to go. But I have my family, friends and Day One by my side to tackle whatever the future holds. I don’t know what we would have done without Day One Trauma Support in our lives, they were our lifeline in our time of need.”
Day One’s Christmas appeal aims to raise £75,000 so it can provide financial advice and support to people who've suffered a catastrophic injury - helping to improve their well-being and mental health. Thanks to Aviva Community Fund, every £1 donated will be matched, up to £250 per individual.
Lucy Nickson, CEO of Day One Trauma Support, said: “We’re so grateful to Georgia and her family for sharing their inspiring story to support this year’s appeal. We know many people are struggling financially, and the impact is only compounded when a family member suffers a sudden catastrophic injury and faces a long recovery journey, often with a disability and reduced income.
“We see the reality of this every day in the hospitals we operate and through our national support offer. That’s why our appeal is so important so that we can reach everyone who needs our help. If you can, please donate and give the gift of hope and recovery this Christmas so we can help even more people like Georgia and her family.”
