Girl dragged under van in 'worst nightmare' crash raises thousands for rescuers

A seven-year-old who was left "fighting for life" in a coma for five days after being dragged under a van while riding her bike has been recognised for helping to raise £65,000 for Wales Air Ambulance.

At four years old, Gracie Kinnear from Carmarthen was playing outside with friends during the school holidays when a van driver crashed into her, leaving her with life-threatening injuries.

"We were unsure of whether our little girl would survive," said her mum, Emma.

Gracie spent five days in a coma, about a month in hospital and two years learning how to walk again, but she has now been recognised with national awards for giving back to the charity which helped save her life.

On the first day of the half-term holidays in February 2023, Emma had taken Gracie and her older brother Chester for a play date at a friend's house. A group of children all rode their bikes in the cul-de-sac before most of them went inside apart from Gracie and one other child, supervised by Emma.

"We could see that there was somebody coming down the road and I was waving to get their attention," said Emma.

"The van just kept coming and I was thinking 'this isn't right'."

She explained that Gracie, who is autistic and has learning difficulties, mostly communicated in gestures at the time, so Emma was walking towards her daughter.

"The van had stopped, so I'd kind of stopped worrying. But for some reason it just started driving again... in the time it started driving, I started running, [but] there wasn't enough time for me to move Gracie out the way."

Emma, 36, said the driver "took Gracie right under the vehicle on her bike" and she "jumped in front of the van".

"She didn't see me, she didn't see Gracie. I was pounding on the vehicle... I'd hit it so hard I dented the vehicle.

"I just remember screaming so much that nothing made sense.

"It was horrific."

Gracie was rushed to Glangwili Hospital before being transferred to the University Hospital of Wales Neurosurgical and Paediatric Trauma Centre in Cardiff.

The crash left Gracie with a collapsed lung, a broken scapula, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, lacerations to her liver, a shattered right kidney and a head injury.

She had surgery to reattach her ear and scalp to her head and then needed rehabilitation for two years, wearing a special suit to realign her body and allow her to walk independently again.

In September 2025, the van driver was found guilty of causing serious injury by careless driving following a trial, and was sentenced to 10 months in prison and a 20-month driving ban at Swansea Crown Court.

Emma said the "world was slowly collapsing" around her and her husband, Martyn.

Before and during her transfer to hospital in Cardiff, Gracie was given a general anaesthetic, placed on a ventilator to take over her breathing and protect her brain, and administered two blood transfusions by Wales Air Ambulance medics.

"I knew the air ambulance existed, but I didn't know much about them, I thought it was just a government thing," said Emma, adding that it wasn't until quite a while after the crash that she fully realised the extent of the care Gracie had needed from the team.

"If it wasn't for them, my daughter most likely would not be here today."

Wales Air Ambulance said the treatments Gracie received were usually only available in hospital emergency departments, but a partnership between the charity and Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS) allowed her to get the advanced care.

"It was every parent's worst nightmare. One moment she was happily playing, and the next she was fighting for her life," said Emma.

"They've given Gracie a future. Something that we will forever be grateful for."

The Wales Air Ambulance team that day included Dr Jon Birk, Dr Jamie Vassallo and Critical Care Practitioner Connor Morgans.

Emma said Morgans visited her in hospital after the incident, something "he didn't have to do".

His kindness prompted the family to learn more about the charity and want to give back.

Gracie became the face of its Christmas campaign in December 2025, helping raise more than £65,000 - enough to fund eighteen combined air and road missions.

After her recovery, she also met the medics who helped save her life and got to sit in the helicopter.

Birks said: "To have met Gracie again, full of life, is incredibly humbling."

Emma added: "Every time we went to see them, it opened up a new reason why we should support them."

Nominated by the charity, Gracie received a certificate of merit from the Child of Wales Awards 2026 last week, in recognition of her outstanding fundraising efforts.

Award sponsor Bluestone National Park Resort in Pembrokeshire invited the family to their resort for the day, and Gracie also won a Child of Courage award at the Nations Radio Awards earlier this year.

"It was such a special moment when Gracie received her certificate. Her face lit up, she was waving at everybody. She's really proud of it," said Emma.

"If you had told me three years ago that this is what the future would look like, I would never have believed you."

Gracie was joined to collect her certificate by her ten-year-old brother Chester, who their mum said was Gracie's "biggest champion".

"Chester has been incredible every step of the way. He was there when the accident happened - he didn't see it, but he heard me. It's nice for him to experience some of the more positive bits too, because he's experienced all the negatives with us."

Gracie can now walk and eat independently again, and has returned to school.

Emma, who had worked in a hospital before the accident, said she had been unable to go back but was now working as a content creator.

"I don't think I'll ever get over it," said Emma.

"But, for me, the positives in it are raising money for other people. You can't repay the work and the effort and all the care they've given her, so by helping the air ambulance raise the money, you are.

"This negative experience has definitely benefited so many people, and that's just the way you've got to look at it."