PA
A heroic off-duty paramedic saved a 12-year-old boy's life by holding his shattered face together like a jigsaw puzzle after he suffered horrific injuries in a car crash.
Jake Tharme broke dozens of bones in his face and jaw after his head smashed through the passenger window of his mum's car on October 28.
Mum Sharon, 33, was driving with Jake, daughter Amelia, nine, and 20-month-old son Mason, when she collided with a Vauxhall Astra in Meir Heath, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs.
The force of the crash crushed Sharon's blue Corsa and Jake's face was so badly damaged Sharon was convinced he was dead.
But incredibly, a female off-duty paramedic was walking past when she saw the two-car collision and raced over to help.
After pulling Jake out of the wreckage the paramedic held his broken face together in her hands while they waited for an ambulance to arrive.
Jake was rushed to University Hospital of North Staffordshire where he needed over 200 stitches. He spent five days in hospital while surgeons painstakingly pieced his face back together.
Sharon, from Stafford, Staffs., said: "After the crash, Amelia said, 'Mum, is Jake alive?', but when I turned to him and saw that he was unconscious, the first thing I thought was that he was dead.
"The next thing I knew, a woman was knocking on my window. She told me she was an off-duty paramedic and she needed me to calm down.
"I panicked, she was telling me things and I was shouting that I couldn't do it, but she was firm with me.
"She said I needed to cut off Jake's seat belt and clothes to see if he had any more injuries.
"I didn't want to do it but she told me she couldn't let go of Jake's head.
"She stayed with us until the paramedics arrived and I am just so grateful because it was horrendous.
"She was absolutely brilliant with us. She saved my boy's life."
The family are now trying to trace the paramedic in order to thank her in person for saving Jake's life. Jake, who has a seven-inch scar running across his face, said: "I just want to thank the paramedic so much for helping me. I am getting better."
The people in the other car - a woman in her 30s, a teenage girl and a 10-year-old girl - suffered minor injuries. Staffordshire Police are investigating the cause of the crash.