Picture – Richard Smith has raised over £5,000 for those who helped save him
A father of two from Perth has run over 50 miles to raise money for the people who saved his life after a serious lorry crash in 2012.
Richard Smith completed “Ricky’s that explains a lot run” on January 25 after running the second leg of his run from The Royal Victoria Hospital in Dundee back to Perth Royal Infirmary.
Richard ran the first leg on November 22 last year to mark the 13th anniversary of the crash.
“I am doing the run to symbolise my journey and raise money for all the incredible first responders who helped saved my life on that day, I wouldn’t be here without them” Richard said.
The accident
On January 22 in 2012 Richard was parked in his van on a lay-by on the A9 southbound between the Inveralmond and the Broxden roundabout having his morning break when a lorry crashed into the back of him, crushing him into another lorry that was parked in front.
Richard was working as a Joiner with Perth and Kinross Council at the time of the accident.
The accident meant that Richard had to have emergency brain surgery and spend just under three weeks in a medically induced coma.
He suffered a severely depressed skull fracture, crush injuries to both legs and deep lacerations to his arm, to allow him to recover from his injuries he had to spend two months in hospital.
Richard can still feel the effects of the crash today: “I suffered a traumatic brain injury and do find myself quite lucky to not be in a worse position than I am. The main effects that I still feel are the brain fog and tiredness which can make my life quite tricky but it could be a lot worse.”
“A lot of the time people who suffer a traumatic brain injury like mine have PTSD. Since I don’t remember the accident I don’t have PTSD or flashbacks. One of the nurses told me that this was my brains way of saying what happened to me was too traumatic and that I don’t need to know what happened.”
Richard’s wife Kirstin and his two young daughters Neiv and Erin (who were five and one at the time of the accident) were able to visit him straight away in the hospital along with other family members despite him being in a coma: “they read me newspapers and kept me up to date with what was happening the in world even though I was completely unconscious. That just shows how much support they were willing to give me.”
No one was charged with the accident as the driver of the lorry blacked out, meaning that the driver and the company he worked for avoided liability and no criminal charges were brought.
Richard still received a pay-out for the accident to compensate for his loss of earnings caused by his time off work due to his injuries and his recovery.
The route
Richard planned the route with the journey of his recovery in mind.
He started the first leg of his run at the site of his crash and then ran to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee and then on to the Royal Victoria Hospital.
His original plan was to run the route that the ambulance took but that would’ve required him running along a motorway which is illegal in the United Kingdom so he had to take his run along country roads instead.
“The original route I had planned was along motorways but that’s illegal in the UK and it would have been just under a marathon. When I look back on the run when I’m older I don’t want to think about the time when I almost ran a marathon. I want to remember the time I ran a marathon for a great cause.”
To symbolise his journey home he ran the second route on January 25 this year which was the 13th anniversary of his discharge date.
Richard said: “I ran from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Dundee, where I received specialist care to help me recover from my brain injury, back to Perth Royal Infirmary as I continued my physio and rehabilitation there after being discharged.”
“On the route back I ran past my house and it really did feel like a full circle moment” Richard said.
In total Richard ran 58.71 miles across both routes.
The run
Richard decided to make the name of his run a little bit light-hearted “I called the run “Ricky’s that explains a lot run” it was just a bit of a joke about how when people meet me and I tell them I’ve got brain damage they go “oh that explains a lot.”
He chose to do the run now as it was the 13th anniversary of the crash, however he only decided that he wanted to do it 10 and a half weeks beforehand.
Richard said he spoke to his gym instructor about his plan and was told that training for a marathon usually takes six months, but that didn’t stop him from giving it a go.
Despite being hindered by injury Richard completed the run thanks to the support of his friends and family.
“I do think that the support from my friends and family really helped me, especially when I started getting donations because then it became real and I couldn’t let all these people down” said Richard.
Richard’s eldest daughter Neiv was only five at the time of the accident so doesn’t remember it that much but is still so proud of her dad.
“I’m so proud and shocked at how well he has done on both runs. I think he even surprised himself at how well he did with pretty much no training and bad knees.”
She doesn’t remember the accident but years after it she remembers telling her friends and other people at school about it and their reaction to how serious the accident was.
“I’m very grateful for the emergency services who helped saved my dad that day and to all of the people who have helped him since through his recovery. They are incredible people that are truly amazing at their jobs.” said Neiv.
‘If I could say one thing to the people who saved me’
When asked about the one thing he wanted to say to the people who helped save him Richard said: “If I could say one thing to the people who saved me it would just be thank you so much for allowing me to see my young daughters grown up into adults and for allowing me to be there to support them and to be there for all of the milestone moments in their lives.”
The charities
Richard is raising money for four different charities these are:
- Headway Perth & Kinross who support people living with brain damage and their families
- The Scottish Ambulance Service endowment fund, a charity dedicated to enhancing patient care and supporting staff wellbeing
- Scottish Fire & Rescue services family support trust, a charity that supports firefighters and their families when they need it most
- The Benevolent fund for nurses in Scotland, a charity helping nurses in Scotland who are struggling financially due to illness or hardship
Richard is continuing to raise money and give back to the people who helped save him by holding a race night on March 28 at Luncarty FC social club.
