A PINEHURST teen who was left in a coma after a car accident last year will donate hundreds of pounds to a brain injury charity.

Courtney Thurman – known as ‘Booey’ – suffered a severe head injury in the early hours of Saturday, August 13 last year, following a car smash.

Then just 17-years-old, the former Swindon Academy student was rushed to Southampton General Hospital and placed in a coma to allow her to be treated for brain swelling.

The girl’s family faced a gruelling round-trip of 124-miles to be by her bedside every day.

Pinehurst residents and friends of the Thurman family rallied round, raising more than £1,400 to help mum Nikki and dad John travel down to Southampton to be with their daughter.

At the time, neighbour Jill Lewis told the Adver: “Courtney is a popular, beautiful girl. All the kids love her. Like her mum, she’s the heart of this area. It was devastating to hear what had happened.”

Courtney, 18, is now out of hospital and back home in Pinehurst.

At the Pinehurst Fun Day on Saturday, Courtney will hand over a cheque for £602.40 to Headway Swindon. The charity supports those who have been affected by brain injury.

Jane Weston, Headway Swindon’s centre manager, said: “Brain injuries can have a very profound affect on people’s lives. We ran a survey recently and 70 per cent of people who had suffered a serious injury felt that it had made them feel like a different person.”

Headway Swindon currently has 92 patients on its books. It costs £360,000 a year to run the service – with £60,000 of it coming from fundraising.

The money will probably pay for a person to access out services on a weekly basis for around three months.

“Everything we do is all very much tailored around the individual. Everybody who comes here is assessed on their own needs.”

Pinehurst resident Jill Lewis lives several doors down from Courtney and her mother, Nikki.

The grandmother hailed Courtney’s recovery: “She’s doing alright. She just wants to try and work through it.

“You can tell that there are some lasting effects. But she’s got good support and people are still behind her.

“She’s on Headway Swindon’s waiting list. If she needs to access their services she can.”

The cheque will be handed over at Pinehurst Fun Day. The community-run event will feature rides, inflatables, fire fighters, a children’s entertainer and Swindon Wildcats players. The free event is on Saturday July 15, 1pm to 5pm at the Pinehurst Circle.