Car crash project ‘world leading’ say researchers

The musician and singer from Cornwall said she owed her life to the crew of Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance, who gave her a roadside blood transfusion after she lost half her blood.

"I broke both arms, my left leg, both knees, right foot, punctured my lung, fractured my skull, I had brain bleeds and lost a finger," she said.

She spent two weeks in a coma, followed by many further weeks in hospitals. Four years after the crash, her rehabilitation is ongoing and she requires a carer.

"My left arm is permanently damaged and I used to be a guitarist. I can sing, but because of my brain injury I can't remember the lyrics so I have to read them," she said.

The Romanian driver of the lorry was convicted of careless driving.

But Tamsyn said she did not want him to spend time in prison and he was able to return to his home country.

Road traffic collisions cause nearly 30,000 deaths and serious injuries each year in Britain.

As well as the human cost, the economic impact is put at GBP42bn a year, according to 2023 Department for Transport statistics.

The project is called Data Sustains Life.