A WEST FIFE teenager has completed a gruelling 70-mile walk on the anniversary of the car crash that almost killed him.

Tayler Martin was involved in an horrific two-car collision on September 13 last year that left him fighting for his life.

His parents were told by medical experts the next morning to prepare for the worst after he sustained life-threatening injuries that included a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain.

Tayler had a successful emergency brain operation during the night and now, one year later, he has raised more than £5,000 with his family for all the departments and organisations that helped save his life.

“If this money can go towards helping save someone else’s life, then it will have been worth it,” the 19-year-old told the Press.

His dad, Graeme, had planned initially on embarking on the same journey his son faced last September by walking from the scene of the crash on the A985 to Cameron Hospital in Windygates, via the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Western General Hospital.

It was expected that Tayler would join him for parts of the route last Sunday evening (September 13) but he went above and beyond that expectation and completed the 69.8-mile challenge in 21 hours and 58 minutes.

Tayler said: “It was pretty tough but having my friends and family encourage me along the way really helped.

“I never planned on doing the whole way. I just kept going and the miles kept coming off.

“There were tears of joy and happiness from everyone when I finished. It was just a year ago that I was in the same place but in a completely different condition.

“There was a large sense of relief that we made it to the hospital on our own terms this time.”

Starting at 9.29pm, Tayler, his dad, and other friends and family, started walking from the A985 junction with Clinkum Bank.

Tayler was accompanied by his dad for the first 40 miles with others stepping in and out throughout the duration of the journey.

He set a course for the Edinburgh Royal and Western General before finishing at around 7.27pm at the Cameron Hospital alongside his dad, mum, girlfriend, other relatives and friends.

Between the time of the crash and his eventual release from there on October 10, he had spent nearly one month between intensive care, high dependency and three different hospitals for treatment and rehabilitation.

While the road to recovery has been difficult, and there are still “days better than others”, he’s now been able to return to his love of football refereeing and has started studying at Fife College recently.

He was the referee for two matches last Saturday and Graeme told the Press that Tayler received a glowing report from his assessor.

“I’m so proud of him for everything he has achieved,” he said.

“It’s been an emotional week and the walk had a lot of highs and lows but, incredibly, he got through all of it. His whole family are so proud of him.

“We can all draw a line under this now and he can look ahead to the future.”

At the time of writing around £5,100 has been raised for the following groups and organisations: Fife Road Policing Unit, the Scottish Ambulance Endowment Fund, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Family Support Trust, Trauma Department ERI, ICU/HDU Department Western General Hospital, HDU Ward 31 Western General Hospital and Ward 6 at Cameron Hospital.

The online donation page will remain available for the rest of this month and anyone looking to contribute can do so at: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/tay13rmartinthankyouwalk2020