A TEENAGER was in a coma in hospital last night after his car veered off a Moray road and somersaulted into a field.
Family members were at the bedside of John Rodgers, who suffered head injuries when his vehicle plunged down a steep grass bank on the A941 between Elgin and Rothes.
The 18-year-old was taken initially to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin but was transferred to the intensive therapy unit at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
A spokesman for the hospital confirmed yesterday that the former Speyside High student, who lives in Rothes, was in a “stable condition”.
He added: “He has been taken off the ventilator which was helping him to breathe.”
Mr Rodgers’s parents spent the day at the hospital yesterday, while his grandmother, Grace Christie, remained in Rothes to look after the family dog.
She said the teenager was due to be transferred again today to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for further treatment.
Mrs Christie, who is the treasurer at Rothes Parish Church, said: “He’s not woken up yet, but he will be all right.
“It’s just going to take some time.”
Mr Rodgers’s fiancee of four months is understood to have been travelling with him in the car at the time of the accident.
She escaped serious injury and was described by the emergency services as “walking wounded”.
Mr Rodgers, who works for plumbing and heating firm McKerron and Milne, was described by a witness as being “groggy” and “semi-conscious” immediately after the crash.
After crossing the carriageway, his car – a nine-year-old Vauxhall Corsa – catapulted over a fence.
It came to rest in a field at the side of the road with its windscreen shattered and mud on its roof.
Several items from inside the vehicle, including a pair of boots and a jacket, were left scattered around the area.
Two ambulances and several police cars went to the scene, just north of Rothes.
The Corsa was later towed out of the field.
Pearl Paul, who lives in Rothes and sits on Moray Council, said: “I wish John a very speedy recovery.
“Our thoughts are with the family.”
The accident happened on Friday.