A RADCLIFFE travel agency came to the aid of a woman whose daughter was seriously injured in a road crash abroad.

Lucy Hill, whose parents live in Laburnum Drive, Whitefield, was on a moped in northern Thailand when it was hit by a car on Saturday morning.

The 21-year-old was taken to hospital and treated for a bleed on her brain, a damaged eye socket, a broken pelvis and a gashed leg.

Lucy's mother Alison heard the horrific news on Saturday afternoon and initially had difficulty booking a flight to Thailand because of online booking restrictions.

However, she got help from PR World Travel in Water Street, Radcliffe, who worked with their industry contacts to get her on a plane.

She eventually set off at 8.30pm on Saturday and was at her daughter's bedside by Sunday evening.

Lucy's father Phil, who runs Pip's Driving School, said: “The people at the company were fantastic.

“A lot of stuff was going on and they solved a massive problem that we have because Alison was unable to get on the flight. I'm very grateful."

Flight booking websites are unable to communicate with the computer system which governs the movement of baggage for passengers who need to change planes.

Steve Lowe, a partner in PR World Travel, said: "We were able to speak to someone who could manually input information to get those two systems talking to each other and arrange a flight.

"It was a very tough situation and our priority was with the family. Thankfully, we were able to help and get her moving."

Lucy studied at Castlebrook Primary School in Bury and studied physical education at Leeds Beckett University and has ambitions to become a teacher.

She had previously worked at TGI Fridays in Prestwich and at the Warehouse bar in Leeds.

The graduate was just a few days in to the trip of a lifetime when the crash happened and had saved up for it for months.

Lucy was initially in a serious condition and lost a lot of blood during surgery.

Her travel companion, Lauren Hall, made an urgent appeal for people to donate A Negative blood, which is rare among Thai residents.

The request spread via social media across the world, and dozens of tourists responded to the appeal in the first half of this week, donating blood at Chiang Mai hospital.

On Monday, witnesses described how Good Samaritans were queuing out of the hospital door.

Jon Manley, aged 30, of Indiana in the US, said: "I was able to donate.

"The waiting room was packed and at least seven or eight people were able to donate while we were there. We're hoping for a happy ending."

Lucy’'

Phil added: "I'm keeping in close touch with Alison. Lucy is now stable.

"We have been told that she might have to have another operation on Thursday.

"She has suffered quite a bad injury to her eye and the doctors want to bring in an eye specialist to give his opinion."

He added: "More people have been giving blood and it's looking like Lucy might need surgery on her pelvis and treatment for the gash on her leg."

Phil thanked everyone who had helped his daughter and particularly praised Lauren for the way she has dealt with such a challenging situation.

On Facebook, Phil added: "It is extraordinarily humbling and overwhelming how people react. Words can't express how grateful we are."

Lucy's close friend Alex Warren has set up an online fundraising page to pay for her medical costs and more than £3,000 has so far been donated.

Visit tinyurl.com/helpforlucy for more information.