Woman runs Scottish Half Marathon to thank her sister’s heroes
September 30, 2024News in
Even though they live on different sides of the world, sisters Laurie and Meghan Coburn have an unbreakable bond, but that was almost taken away in December last year when Meg was involved in a serious car crash.
Meg was about 15 minutes away from home in Major Plains when her vehicle ran off the road and collided with a tree, leaving her fighting for her life.
Luckily, her smartwatch detected the incident and called Triple Zero (000), providing the call taker with her GPS coordinates and a short audio recording which picked up her breathing.
Paramedics worked quickly to help Meg, before she was transported via air ambulance to Royal Melbourne Hospital.
When Meg didn’t arrive home at the time she said she would, her fiancé, Sean, went looking for her and came across the crash site.
Paramedics told Sean she was in a critical condition and he immediately called her family in Scotland.
Around 16,000 kilometres away, Laurie and her parents heard the devastating news and immediately made plans to fly to Australia.
“It was a waiting game and Sean just had to keep us updated with what was going on,” Laurie said.
“We were terrified about what was coming.”
After arriving in Victoria, Meg’s family rushed to her bedside where they stayed for the 123 days she was in hospital.
It’s been a long road to recovery for Meg, but thankfully she’s now back at home and is immensely grateful to everyone who helped save her life.
“The care I received from the paramedics and hospital has been absolutely amazing and I can’t fault it,” she said.
“I can’t express how happy I am to still be here and I know if it weren’t for the paramedics and all of the effort they put into saving me, I would not be here to tell this story.”
To express her thanks for saving her sister, Laurie ran the 2024 Scottish Half Marathon on Sunday, 18 August.
She set out to raise money for Air Ambulance Victoria (AAV) and The Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Laurie originally signed up to the marathon so she could tick it off her bucket list, but after Meg’s accident she said it felt like the perfect opportunity to give back.
“We wanted to thank them, but it felt like nothing we could do would ever be enough,” Laurie said.
“You can’t put a price on the people who did everything they could to save Meg.
“They’re the reason she’s alive today.”
After months of training, Laurie successfully completed the half marathon in two hours and 16 minutes and raised £4500 (around $8700 AUD), with a portion going towards AAV.
Meg said she was incredibly proud of her older sister and all she had achieved.
“It just goes to show how unbelievably amazing and supportive my family is,” Meg said.
This week, Meg and her family caught up with the paramedics who responded to her in a heartfelt reunion.
Ambulance Victoria (AV) MICA paramedic, Alistair Kyrkou said Meg’s amazing recovery is testament to her strength and the work of everyone who helped save her.
“I still reflect on how lucky Meg was that her watch called 000,” he said.
“Given the state of her car and her condition, it is incredible to be speaking to her today.
“To hear about Meg’s outcome and now see her in real life has changed my whole outlook of cases I go to.
“These cases are why we all do what we do – our care helped ensure Meg could spend many more years alive, surrounded by her family and friends.
“For me, this is what it’s all about.”
Community donations to AV go towards providing specialised equipment, resources and additional paramedic training, so we can continue to provide the Victorian community with the best pre-hospital emergency care.
Visit AV Donations for more information.