A 22-year-old Huddersfield man who had to learn to talk and walk again after a serious road smash is returning to university to finish his degree.

Scott Remmer was in a coma for two months following the crash 18 months ago on Penistone Road in Kirkburton, just minutes from his home in Shelley.

The accident, and the dramatic attempts by doctors and paramedics to save Scott’s life, feature in Monday night’s episode of Helicopter ER, the UKTV series which follows the work of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Scott Remmer being treated at the scene of the smash

Scott suffered multiple bleeds on the brain as well as a serious leg injury and was placed in a medically induced coma at the scene before being airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary.

After three months in hospital, during which he had major brain and orthopaedic surgery, Scott was transferred to the neurological rehabilitation unit at Kendray Hospital in Barnsley.

During six months of intensive therapy Scott had to learn how to walk and talk again and also how to feed and dress himself.

Scott Remmer with his mum Kate

Devastated family and friends began fundraising to thank the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. This was the second time the rapid response emergency service has airlifted a member of the Remmer family with Scott’s brother Luke also needing the iconic yellow helicopter after a motor-cross accident in 2014.

Grateful mum Kate, a medical secretary at Shepley GP Practice, said: “Without the air ambulance Scott would not have survived, it’s that simple. They are an amazing charity and we really wanted to raise £12,000 – the cost of keeping them flying for a day.

“It also gave us a focus during what was a very difficult time and we have just been so touched by how much support we have had.”

Police at the scene of the crash

More than 20 family and friends, including Scott’s girlfriend Fern Hopkins, took part in the York 10K. His close friends Lewis Reynolds and Ian Walker, of rising Huddersfield band LewRey, also wrote and recorded a song dedicated to him called ‘Til You Come Home’.

All profits from the single, which is available on iTunes to download, are going to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Scott has now recovered enough to start the final year of his English Language degree course at Sheffield Hallam University.

Road accident victim Scott Remmer, of Kirkburton, with girlfriend Fern Hopkins.
Road accident victim Scott Remmer, of Kirkburton, with girlfriend Fern Hopkins.

The aspiring teacher said: “I was only a couple of modules and my dissertation away from completing my degree when I had the accident so I really wanted to go back and finish it.

“It’s been hard. I had to learn to walk and talk again and a stutter that I had as a child has come back but I’ve had so much support and I’m just very lucky to be alive.”

Scott’s dramatic roadside treatment and recovery can be seen on Helicopter ER at 9pm on Monday, September 25, on Really.

The episode also features a tragic road accident on the M6 which left one man dead and other paralysed and the first mission completed by one of Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s two new state-of-the-art Airbus H145 helicopters.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) serves 5million people across Yorkshire and carries out over 1,250 missions every year. The charity needs to raise £12,000 every day to keep saving lives.