Nine months after an accident left him in a coma, Todd Hammond met with the paramedics that saved his life

On December 16 in 2021, Todd Hammond was in a buggy accident and was critically injured with multiple significant head injuries.

Paramedics swiftly arrived and escorted him to Griffith Airport, where he was airlifted out to Canberra Hospital.

It didn't look good for the young man, and he was transported to Sydney Hospital not long afterwards.

Todd remained comatose for around five weeks but despite the grim outlook, he began a truly miraculous recovery in mid-January. Weeks of rehab and recovery followed as he relearned how to walk, talk and move.

His mother Jill said she always knew he would come around, and attributed the recovery to his sheer force of will and determination.

"I knew when we got transferred. From here to Canberra, I didn't know what would happen but when we went from Canberra to Sydney, I knew he would be okay. I don't know how, I just knew," Mrs Hammond said.

Nine months later, Todd and his family met with the paramedics who first responded at Griffith Ambulance Station.

Todd said he was doing well now, and recently even had his vision tested in preparation to go for his L-plates - and is already back riding motorbikes.

Paramedic Claudia Hempenstall said that it was a rare gift to get any kind of closure or an update on a patient. She thanked the family for coming in to see them.

"It means so much to us. Normally, we don't get updates and we don't get this kind of closure at the end of it where we see a really successful outcome," she said.

"It's nice to see Todd now."

Inspector Markus Zarins agreed that it doesn't happen often.

"I must admit, I've been in this job for a while and I must admit, this is probably the second time this has ever happened. It's very rare that we ever see or get to follow up with people."

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His friend Will, who was also involved in the accident but escaped with minor injuries, joked that Todd had already started playing the 'coma card' with substitute teachers to dodge school work or get a leg up.

Todd took the opportunity to ask the paramedics whether they had any images from the accident, and was disappointed when they told him that for privacy and safety reasons, they don't keep pictures of patients.

When asked what he wanted the photos for, he had just one word.

"Memes."

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