A FORMER soldier who suffered devastating injuries in a high-speed car crash has been awarded a £2 million settlement.

Tom Burt was serving at the Fallingbostel Army base in Germany in June 2006 when he was the passenger of a car that smashed into a lorry on the autobahn at around 110 miles per hour.

Tom, who was then 18, was in a coma for two months, eventually being transferred to Selly Oak in Birmingham and then Poole Hospital, where he woke up.

The Bournemouth man had sustained a serious brain injury, as well as multiple fractures to his skull and face.

Dad Graham, who works as a crane driver, said: “When I had the call about Tom, I just went into shock.

“I was at work, and I drove myself home, but I have no memory at all of the drive.

“No one knew what was going to happen to him – he had a 50/50 chance of survival.

“He was very badly injured, with a hole in his lung, internal bleeding on his left side, broken bones – all sorts.

“We just had no idea what was going to happen.”

Tom, a former trooper in the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, was asleep at the time of the crash, with his head on his shoulder.

The airbag inflated, but did not protect Tom’s head, which smashed into the dashboard.

Graham said: “It’s been a very difficult seven years as Tom has had to come to terms with the fact that his brain will never function the same again.

“He is now really a child living in an adult’s body and he finds it very difficult to cope with this.”

The settlement from the driver’s insurance company will help cover the care, rehabilitation and therapy Tom will need for the rest of his life, as well as compensating him for loss of earnings.

Phil Banks, a partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: “The compensation will also provide relief for Tom’s family, particularly his father, who have been superb in caring for him.”