A WOMAN from Cumbria has thanked the air ambulance paramedic who came to her aid after she fell from her bike in the Lake District. 

Judith Bradshaw, 47, visited Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) paramedic Andy Dalton to praise him for his part in her rescue.

Ms Bradshaw was completing a coast to coast cycle ride when the accident happened on May 24 this year, shortly after setting off from Hartside Top Café in the direction of Alston.

Ms Bradshaw, a waste prevention officer for Cumbria County Council from Carlisle, was leading a group of six.

She said: “I was at the front and we were going downhill. I told everyone to be careful and to remember to turn right at the bottom. I looked at the barn on route and after that I don’t remember a thing. I woke up in Newcastle the next afternoon.

“My friend who found me lying in the road was worried when she realised there was blood coming from my head. We don’t know what happened for me to come off my bike. It may have been the wind or some gravel. We don’t have a clue.”

GNAAS treated Ms Bradshaw on the roadside and were able to stabilise her injuries before she was flown to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

Ms Bradshaw spent three days in the intensive care unit before being moved to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle.