A TEENAGER from Pinehurst presented a cheque for more than £600 to brain injury charity Headway Swindon at a fun day held over the weekend.

Courtney Thurman suffered a brain injury following a car crash in the early hours of August 13 last year when she was just 17 years old.

She said: “A car with a hay bale crashed into me and I fell unconscious, I died and came back, though I don’t remember the crash at all.

“I was in hospital for three months before I was able to leave.

“I was really struggling, I had to learn how to walk and talk again.

“My mum was with me in hospital every day.”

After the accident, Courtney was rushed to Southampton General Hospital and placed in a coma to allow her to be treated for brain swelling.

Friends and fellow Pinehurst residents pitched in to raise a whopping £1,400 which allowed the family to travel 124 miles every day to be by Courtney’s bedside.

The local community was so generous that the family had £602.40 left unspent after Courtney’s remarkable recovery and she decided to donate the money to Headway.

CEO of Headway Swindon Jane Weston was thrilled to receive such a sizeable donation.

She said: “We are over the moon, it makes such a difference to us.

“We are so dependent on local people supporting us so we can help people like Courtney.

“We wanted to come out and say thank you personally because it was so important and meant so much to us.”

Now back on her feet and recovering at home, 18-year-old Courtney was full of praise for the people who rallied round to help her during the hardest few months of her life.

She said: “I feel a lot better now, everyone helped me so much and I couldn’t have done it without their support.

“I started crying when I heard how much money they had raised.

“Thank you to everyone, I’m so grateful, I wouldn’t be here today without them.”

It costs £360,000 a year to run the services Headway Swindon provide, and £60,00 of that comes from fundraising.

The charity is currently supporting 92 patients.

The cheque presentation was far from the only attraction at the Pinehurst Fun Day.

There were also inflatable slides, firefighters, rides, and live music and entertainment from the Swindon Wildcats players at the free community-run event on Saturday.