A heroic dad saved his own daughter’s life when she was “bleeding out” in a horror crash caused by a pigeon.
Mercedes Valentine was struck by the bird in the face while riding her motorcycle.
She had been out celebrating with her family earlier that day – with her dad, mum and sister, following behind on the road in a car.
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The 25-year-old model, who has over 250,000 followers on Instagram @mercedesthedancerxo, was flung 260ft in the air and hit the pavement hard – with her injuries so severe, that she was at first, presumed dead.
While bystanders called for help, Mercedes’ dad, Chris – who happens to be a trauma doctor – sprung into action.
The 60-year-old made a split-second decision to remove his daughter’s helmet, which ultimately saved her life.
Pushing aside the fact that this patient was his own daughter, Chris then got to work tending to her wounds to keep her alive.
“I was bleeding out and couldn’t breathe – the helmet was choking me,” said Mercedes, from Brighton.
“When the paramedics arrived, there was a struggle between them and my father on who should take charge of the situation.
“The paramedics didn’t want to remove the helmet in case of a spinal injury.
“But my dad ignored them.
“He’s the best at what he does, as a trauma doctor he’s the man you want on the scene of an accident.
“Dad made a split second decision to remove the helmet, which saved my life.
“The paramedics also struggled to fit my cannula, so my dad sorted that and helped fit my pelvis binder to stop the bleeding.
“My sister, who’s also a doctor, assisted by setting up the vitals monitor in the ambulance.”
At one point, Mercedes’ dad was forced to resuscitate his own child.
Once stable enough to be moved, she was rushed to the hospital, where doctors revealed that she had lost over three litres of blood.
The model spent the first week of her month-long hospital stay unconscious with her life hanging in the balance.
She had four broken ribs as well as a broken nose, skull and shoulder, a smashed eye socket and shattered pelvis.
When she found out that her dad had saved her life, Mercedes burst out in tears.
Chris said: “I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost her.”
Mercedes’ sister, explained: “I don’t ever want to see her like that again, it was the most horrible day of my life, we thought we were going to lose her.
“When it first happened I didn’t think she’d make it back home.
“Dad definitely had to lead that event – Mercedes would have been paralysed with brain damage, or bled out if we weren’t there.”
Mercedes said: “My dad did a classic father thing the minute I was out of hospital – he grabbed a skeleton and showed me all of my injuries.
“He showed me what I’d broken – it was like a fun research project.
“Now my father won’t show a lot of feelings in general, he can cope with a hell of a lot emotionally.
“But my sister said that he did cry on the first few days when I was in ITU looking rather dead.
“I remember it being really hard on my sister though.
“She’d come into my room crying and telling me ‘I don’t want to lose you’.”
Mercedes’ accident took place last summer.
While she was bed-bound, her boyfriend Mark, 34 – who worked at the same hospital – tended to her every need.
The pair had only been together for a month before the crash so it was the first time the family had met him.
Mercedes said: “Mark hadn’t met any of my family before the hospital.
“The first time he met them all was beside me with my face split open.
“So, that was a bit awkward!
“He essentially became my full time carer because he worked at the hospital.
“Mark would brush my teeth, change my bed and make sure I took my medication at the right times.
“He was amazing.”
Although Mercedes has now recovered, she has been left with memory loss.
She remembers very little from a month before or after the crash and struggles to retain certain details of new events.
But this hasn’t stopped her from getting back on the bike.
She added: “I got back on my bike
“My mum isn’t a fan of my decision to get back on the bike, but she knows how much I love it – and she’ll support me even if it scares her.
“Funnily enough, dad is the person who gave me the passion for riding motorbikes – he loves it too.
“So despite what happened, he is more than happy for me to get back out there, so long as I’m careful.
“I feel so grateful that fate made sure I had my family with me on the day of the crash.
“My dad is my hero.”
