East Yorks dad's letter after life-threatening accident to help others with trauma
Paul Saunders from Swanland woke up having suffered major organ damage from a cycling accident
Last updated 30th Sep 2024
An East Yorkshire dad who woke up from a five-week coma unable to talk or move has written an emotional letter to his former self two years on from his life-threatening accident.
48 year old Paul Saunders from Swanland woke up having suffered major organ damage from a cycling accident, unable to communicate with his family.
Paul now volunteers for 'day one trauma support' and tells us he wanted to put words down on paper to show people the impact of the crash and how it has affected his life:
"It is really traumatic, and if you've not got anything to pin your hopes on of recovery... that's what I found at the time.
"I was thinking, 'will I ever recover? Will I be able to get up and walk again?'
He tells us more about his own trauma:
"I rode into the back of a stationary van and suffered major organ failure and multiple broken bones.
"I basically woke up in intensive care after five weeks with a tracheostomy on - obviously that was a major shock," he says.
Paul says writing a letter two years on is helping others come to terms with their trauma:
"The reason for the letter is for people to read it and say 'that sounds similar to me', if they're at the beginning of their recovery journey."
"Day One Trauma Support was asking the peer support volunteers to write a letter to themselves to give your former self advice.
"It was quite a therapeutic thing to do, to look back and think about the things you would have said to yourself at the time," he says.
Day One Trauma Support is a charity working with major trauma patients and their families in the UK, regardless of injury type or location.