Episode 14 Countryside 999

From the Highlands of Scotland

to the coast of Cornwall,

the great British countryside is spectacular.

But we work and play in it...at our peril.

And when things go wrong,

the emergency services race to the rescue...

This chap is having a heart attack and we need to get him in quickly.

There's no police courses for this.

..going hundreds of miles against the clock,

battling the elements

and braving the weather.

HE GROANS

From fields and forests

to cliffs and country roads,

we'll be right at the heart of the action,

with police fighting crime...

I could seize your dogs. I could seize your van.

But I'm going to summons you all to court.

..paramedics saving lives...

..and wardens safeguarding our lakes.

-Come out of the way.

-BOAT TANNOY

We're there as the emergency services pull together

to pick up, patch up and protect the public.

This is Countryside 999.

Coming up...

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance battle dense fog

to reach a badly injured child.

In County Durham, it's a challenging shift

for countryside copper Terry...

LA-2699.

..as he searches for a vulnerable missing person.

An elderly gentleman with dementia.

He's gone missing. So there's some concerns for his welfare.

And, in Penzance,

an amateur fisherman catches more than he bargained for.

I was very tempted to pull the thing out.

We were probably about ten miles off Penzance, I suppose.

I thought I'd better leave it to the experts.

Beautiful, wild County Durham.

Over 850 square miles of rolling moors and picturesque dales.

Hill farms, remote villages

and some 2,000 miles of what can only be described

as treacherous country roads.

They all make for a mixed beat for the rural bobbies based here.

These are...for poaching.

From agricultural theft...

We suspect that they've been stolen.

..to patrolling the highways...

Good afternoon, sir. Are you in a rush?

..the north-east of the region is policed by the force

based in the town of Consett.

As a countryside copper,

every shift for PC Terry Archibald has a new challenge.

LA-2699. Myself and 3692 are on our way, as well.

Today, he's on an emergency call.

All that's, er, coming over the radio at the moment...

is there's an elderly gentleman with dementia

at...Stanley, which is a few miles from here.

He's gone missing and hasn't been seen for a couple of hours.

So there's some concerns for his welfare.

The missing man is soon identified as 85-year-old Derrick.

He's wandered off from his rural home,

two miles outside the town of Stanley.

Setting off from Consett, it will take Terry ten minutes

on blue lights to reach the area.

When we have any missing persons, it's, obviously,

high-priority to get them found as quickly as we can.

When you're dealing with somebody with vulnerabilities,

such as the elderly person that we were...

that we were going to be looking for,

who as well as being...the age being a factor,

erm, was suffering from dementia.

So there's all sorts of concerns that we need to deal with, there.

And try and find him as quickly as possible.

There are 850,000 people in the UK with dementia.

One in three people over 65 will die with it.

As a sufferer, Derrick has memory loss and confusion.

We're travelling to assist with an area search over there.

We've got officers travelling to the house, as well

to speak to the family,

to try and get descriptions.

Well, as you see, the weather's starting to turn as well now.

It's started raining really heavily.

If Derrick becomes cold and wet, hypothermia is a real danger.

Concerns are rising.

His home is in an isolated area.

He could be lying somewhere, hurt.

For any high-risk missing person,

the... Basically, all available resources are deployed.

There were local response officers.

Officers from my team. There was a neighbourhood policing team.

We had a dog unit arrive as well.

The air support unit was also being asked to attend.

So, it's intensive.

The sergeant is, er...

..directing things from...from the office.

So, we are going to be...

..doing road checks.

Terry's been given a description.

Blue coat, fawn-coloured trousers we're looking for.

We're going to start at this end, here. And head up the lane.

The last information we have, he could potentially be on one of these

lanes, somewhere.

Fingers crossed, we'll be able to pick him up.

LA-2699.

With no luck in the pub, Terry heads up the lane.

Blue Bell's being checked, negative result.

And descriptions passed to staff there.

It's particularly concerning when you have elderly people...go missing.

Or young people. Um...

More often than not, they don't have a mobile phone.

You've got no way of forming that link and communicating with them.

Derrick doesn't have a mobile phone.

But there is a different way of tracking him.

The gentleman's Buddy system activated on this, er...

on this lane.

Basically, it's like the GPS tracker you would find in most smartphones,

most modern telephones. And if he's not aware where he is,

we can use that to pinpoint where he is and direct a search to that area.

Just to advise, I've travelled the full-length of Coppy Lane

and it's, er, negative.

The lane ends at a local hotel.

Terry meets up with Inspector Keith Wardle.

Well, there's a few pathways.

There's officers starting to walk those paths.

But we're waiting to hear back from the helicopter

about how long they're going to be.

The search is stepping up.

They get ready to start out on foot with dogs.

But then, Inspector Wardle hears news over the radio

from nearby Beamish Museum.

There's been a possible sighting of Derrick.

-'Allegedly.'

-Yes, yes. Can you just give us some directions

from the farm, er...from the hotel, so we can get someone there?

Terry heads off to the museum to find out if it's their missing man.

SIREN WAILS

Yorkshire's 5,500 square miles

make it the UK's biggest county.

It covers vast swathes of wild and spectacular countryside.

From the drama of the Dales

to the rugged beauty of the moors,

to the rolling hills of the Wolds...

..great areas of this rural county are isolated.

Providing an emergency service to the five million people

who live across this huge region, is the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Medical treatment can be on its way within minutes of a 999 call.

It's late afternoon at the Emergency Operations Centre in Wakefield.

A call's come in.

The call is relayed to the air paramedics at their Topcliffe base.

Paramedic Lee Davison is mobilised.

Two kiddies that have been knocked down,

that have been walking together, so...

We'll just get over there. It's quite a remote area,

so difficult accessing for, you know, for land crews.

So, we'll just get off as quick as we can.

On board with him are fellow paramedic Darren Axe

and pilot Chris Attrill.

They're airborne in five minutes.

Meanwhile, the emergency operator continues to instruct the caller.

From their base, it's a 30-mile flight

to where the two children have been hit by a car in Thixendale,

a remote village in the middle of the Yorkshire Wolds.

Where the Wolds are situated, erm, you can be a good hour, easily,

driving with patients down to Hull or going up north to James Cook,

to the trauma centres.

So, trying to help out crews

and trying to get patients to the nearest hospitals,

er, is something that the air ambulance really helps with.

Nearly 2,000 children were killed or seriously injured

on Britain's roads in 2013.

An average of five every day.

Swift medical treatment can be the difference between life and death.

But the team hit a problem.

Fog.

The chopper is still 12 minutes away

when their visibility drastically deteriorates.

The scene was...covered with a cloud layer,

which was very, very low.

Chris is obviously a very, very experienced military pilot,

flown in a lot of bad weather.

We tried everything to get in to this job.

Unable to see obstacles such as turbines,

it's not safe to fly any further.

The cloud was just sat over the top of the incident.

We tried to go around it, we tried to get under it.

We tried to attack it from all sides.

But were unsuccessful. So we had to land quite some distance away.

The nearest safe landing spot is seven miles from the accident.

Lee and Darren must improvise.

I'm just going to try and commandeer a vehicle.

And just go on up to this incident.

They flag down a motorist.

-OK.

-Is that all right?

We've just jumped in this car with Carol cos we were...obviously,

aren't able to get to the incident.

We've been up above it and not been able to see it.

Er, just due to cloud.

And we're just making our way now by car.

These two young kids, obviously, are injured at the scene.

But I need to know what the severity is, to see whether they need to go

by helicopter or not.

I don't know where she was really going.

But she did pull over, let me get in and I told her what the situation was

and she was really accommodating and took us right to the scene.

Cheers.

Two young boys have been knocked down in the village centre.

The car that hit them was travelling at only 20mph.

One boy is in the ambulance.

But 12-year-old Finn is in a bad way.

-Now then, this is Finn.

-Hiya.

-He is 12 years old.

He's been hit by this car, but he's not been unconscious at any point

-from what I can gather.

-OK.

-Erm, he's had ten of morphine.

-Yeah.

-On entonox.

-We're struggling with moving him.

-Keep him straight.

Any sort of movement, he's just...

We'll have to drive him to aircraft and then we'll fly him off to...

-Yeah.

-It's every parent's worst nightmare.

Finn's mum and dad can only stand by and watch

as a local doctor and paramedics stabilise him.

-All right, buddy?

-Yeah.

-OK, all right.

-Get a listen to his chest.

-FEMALE PARAMEDIC:

-In the chest, initially OK, no pain or inflation.

-OK, grand.

-But I've not been able to get in properly.

-OK, sound.

Abdomen? Soft?

Finn's leg is broken.

And he has worrying head injuries.

They must get him to a trauma unit...fast.

But the fog is getting worse all the time.

In County Durham, the police search for elderly missing man Derrick

is about to intensify

when news comes in over the radio.

PC Terry is racing to nearby Beamish Museum

to check out a possible sighting.

En route, some good news comes in over his radio.

Staff found 85-year-old Derrick on a bench outside the museum.

With dementia, he's particularly vulnerable.

As soon as you finish your coffee, we'll head back, OK? There's no rush.

-OK?

-I'll start rushing now.

No, don't you worry, there's no rush. There's plenty of time.

From what we can gather, he'd made his way

up the lane from his home address to Beamish Museum, here.

He's been found by staff. They've contacted us

and we've been on scene within a couple of minutes.

We found him fit and well, so it'll be a case of checking him out.

Pop him back to his family and make sure he's OK.

Yeah, it's a bit worrying for these cases.

But always the most worrying are the missing people cases.

And always nice to have a positive result.

THEY CHAT

-What's he been telling you?

-He's just been working.

-Working?

Ian, a museum volunteer, spotted Derrick.

Earlier this morning, the police stopped

and said they were looking for this gentleman.

Elderly with dementia.

Are you ready to head down? To head back home? Yeah?

And then about...20 minutes ago,

I saw this gentleman, who fit the description, sat on a bench.

So I just had a chat with him. We gave him a cup of coffee.

Brought him indoors to keep warm and dry.

And hopefully, he'll now be taken home.

We'll give you a lift home, Derrick.

I'm just in this car, here.

Right, Derrick.

We'll not be long.

It's a short trip back to Derrick's home...and his worried wife.

There we are, can you manage?

Right, then.

-Shall we go?

-Yes.

-You lead the way, then, Derrick.

Do you want to... Are you all right?

Friend Susan and her dog are there to welcome him home.

-Hello.

-Hello, Derrick. Here's monkey business.

-It's monkey business.

-It is monkey business.

-Come to see you.

-Hello.

Come on in.

Are you coming through, Derrick? Your wife's through here.

-Are you all right?

-I've just realised who you are.

Of course you do. I know you.

He's just realised who I am. I said, "I know." But he knows us.

And your monkey business.

-Are you tired?

-You can say that again.

It's been an anxious three hours since Olive last saw her husband.

I know.

-We've been here before, haven't we?

-Mm-hm.

You all right?

No?

-Where've you been?

-I got, erm...

In the nicest way, I got picked up by the policeman.

The relief is tremendous.

You can't buy that sort of relief.

We've got so many places. By the time I look,

-we're not aware of where he is.

-Mm-hm.

And I'm just frightened that he hurts himself when he's out.

As I say, you've got him home safe and sound.

-Yeah, that's what counts.

-You're all right, that's what counts.

And thank you. You can't...I can't...

Your group have been fantastic, all of them.

You have the same fears as the family do.

And to be able to...

take somebody home...and...

take them back safely to their family,

you can't really describe it. It's an emotional experience.

-Thank you.

-The moment you see the relief on the family's face.

But, it's...brilliant.

Absolutely brilliant moment.

Derrick's safely home.

It's a great result for PC Terry.

But his shift is far from over.

An urgent call is coming in over the radio.

Yeah, LA-2699, I'll break off to that.

He's been called to a multiple car collision.

Beautiful Cornwall -

the far-flung south-western corner of the British Isles.

With 80% of the county surrounded by water,

you're never more than 16 miles from the sea.

The picturesque fishing villages and harbour towns dotted along the coast

attract thousands of holiday-makers every year...

..keeping the region a busy place

and ensuring West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance is never quiet.

CHILD CRIES

Another satisfied customer.

The 24-hour Urgent Care Centre saw 18,000 patients last year.

There we go. That's it back in place, all right?

And whilst tourists boost the visitor numbers...

I want you to bring the crutches towards me.

And then hop. Hop!

SHE LAUGHS That's great! Hop.

..locals keep the unit busy, too.

The doctor will have a look.

Probably pop a local anaesthetic in there,

see if we can get that out.

Martin has been fishing for 40 years.

I wouldn't play with it.

This morning, out catching mackerel, he snagged his own finger.

I'll pop you back out into the waiting room and then

we'll call you through again as soon as we've got a cubicle free.

-All right?

-Thank you. Yeah, OK.

I was out fishing about three, four miles out

and accidentally ended up putting

a fishing hook in my finger,

which is a mackerel feather, by the way.

Luckily, we managed to catch enough fish to keep everybody happy

and we had to come back in.

So, I'm waiting to go in to have the hook taken out.

Hopefully, be home for Sunday roast in the pub.

That's the first time I've done it. Hopefully, I won't be doing it again.

The barbs on the end make fish hooks tricky to remove,

but hospital staff have seen this injury many times before

and they have a nifty technique.

She's going to deaden it somehow or other,

then turn it, push it so that it comes out the other side.

And then cut the barb off and take the hook back out the other way.

Should be fairly straightforward. Will it be painless?

Putting the anaesthetic in will be a bit stingy,

so do you think you're all right to sit down

or would you like to go on the bed?

-No, I'm all right.

-Yeah?

-As far as I know.

-OK.

Dr Daisy Peters is doing the honours today.

Probably best if I shut my eyes rather than look.

Don't want to end up keeling over.

If you think you might keel over,

we're better off putting you on the bed.

Do think you would prefer to be on the bed?

It'd be embarrassing if I do fall for, won't it?

It's just you're a bit bigger than me

and I'd have to pick you up off the ground.

-It's probably best if I do.

-I'll go and get you a sheet.

Just in case, yeah.

Right, there you go.

OK, if you move your bottom back.

-There we go. How's that? All right?

-Yeah, that's good.

Right, OK.

I'm actually going to inject into this part of your finger.

What I need you to try and do is...

..put that over the edge of the bed, if you like,

we'll try and keep your finger flat, OK?

With Martin safely lying down, Dr Peters injects a local anaesthetic.

Right, OK. This will sting a little bit.

-OK?

-Mm.

OK, that takes a minute or so to take action,

so I'm just going to leave you for a moment while that goes numb.

-Yep, all right.

-And I'll be back in a minute, OK?

No problem. Thank you.

Martin's beginning to get attached to his extra adornment.

Beauty, isn't it?

They said, "You'll have to go to hospital with that."

I was very tempted to pull the thing out.

We were probably about ten miles off Penzance, I suppose.

But they said, "No, no, don't do that,

"cos you might affect the tendons or something

"and you might end up with all sorts of stuff."

So...I thought I'd better leave it to the expert.

A few minutes later...

Feeling numb yet?

..Dr Peters is back.

-Yeah.

-I'm going to start moving that.

-Yeah, that is not quite so bad.

-Not as bad as it was?

-No.

-Shall we go ahead and try?

-OK, we'll have a go.

-If it's too bad, I'll stop.

-All right.

Numbed up, Martin can't feel Dr Peters push the hook through,

revealing the barb.

Now, I'm going to cut this barb off and sometimes they fly a bit,

-so just make sure your eyes are closed.

-Shut your eyes. OK.

A bolt cutter does the trick.

-OK, fine. It was just a single barb, yeah?

-Yeah.

-There we go.

-Great.

Simple when you know how.

I'll just ask one of the nurses to come and put soak on that, OK?

So, we'll just soak it and then we'll pop a dressing on.

-All right, fine.

-Lovely, thank you.

-OK.

That was good, wasn't it?

Never felt a thing.

As long as I can do that with a pint of beer, I'll be all right.

Yeah, that'll be all right.

It's what happens when you're an old seaman.

My plan now is to go back and have a Sunday roast.

Got to keep that on for a couple of days

and then, hopefully, it'll be all right.

No signs of any infection in there and live to fish another day.

Deep in the fogbound Yorkshire Wolds,

air ambulance paramedic Lee Davison

is about to take over the battle to help an injured boy.

OK. You're all right.

12-year-old Finn was knocked over by a car

driving at just 20mph.

-What about his pelvis?

-Not particularly been there yet.

-No?

-Just literally...

-OK, all right.

OK. Have you got a pelvic binder in?

Because if he's been hit hard, we'll have to put a binder on him.

His leg is badly broken.

We're making phone calls from somewhere, aren't we?

So they told me. Or have you got connections?

There's a phone here. Yeah. There you go.

-Cheers.

-You can use that.

So, a 12-year-old, just going to put a pelvic binder on him.

He's not been knocked out.

We'll get him sammed up as soon as we can and onto the vehicle and over.

It'll take us ten minutes to drive to the aircraft.

Last light is 21.01.

Finn's mum and dad are in shock.

They were at home, yards from the accident scene,

and were by their son's side in seconds.

-All right, buddy?

-Yeah.

-OK?

All right. Is that better?

He's all right. That's better. He's got some response there.

OK, Finn.

Dr Nick Morton has been attending.

Being a bit remote, obviously the helicopter is ideal for this.

But the weather has been bad

and this fog just coming in in the last couple of hours.

Two swellings on Finn's forehead are worrying.

Only hospital X-rays will determine if he has a serious head injury.

We've got communication problems here cos of the radios and stuff,

so Doc's just sorting this little kiddie out,

then we'll get him onto the vehicle.

The weather is closing in where we are,

so we just need to get sorted and get him on his way.

Before Finn can be transferred to the chopper,

the team must straighten his broken leg.

It's vital to ensure none of the nerves or blood vessels are trapped.

FINN GROANS

OK, what's he had, this little lad, now?

WOMAN SPEAKS INAUDIBLY

Ketamine, OK. All right. OK.

They've given him pain relief.

OK, so effectively,

we're going to go into a straight position this way, yeah?

Doc, I want you just to support him down that side

cos as we straighten him, I don't want him to twist too much.

All right, Finn.

All right, buddy. You're doing well. On your call at the top.

-Ready?

-Move on three.

One, two, three.

-Well done.

-That's cracking.

I'll straighten it, if you want.

Then you can pop it into place, yeah?

-OK, buddy? OK?

-Well done, sweetie pie.

It'll feel a bit strange, all right?

-FINN GROANS

-Well done.

We just need to roll him onto his back. Relax.

Move this leg, sweetheart. Move that leg for him.

Right, I want you to hold his pelvis, if you can. Yep.

Well done.

A corset-like splint will support Finn's pelvis.

Velcro it down like that.

So, now, sweetheart, we're going to go towards you

and then we can get scooping, can't we? Yeah?

OK, we're just going to go straight up, yeah?

Don't twist, just go straight up. On your count.

On three.

One, two, three.

That's better.

All right, Finn.

-OK?

-Finn?

-FINN WHIMPERS

With his leg straight, he's placed on a supportive spinal board

to transfer him to the helicopter.

Is he on?

-All right.

-Have you clipped together?

Pass us that green blanket, please, if you would. Thank you.

That's great. Thanks.

A few straps, if you've got a few. Yes.

But as the minutes tick by, the fog worsens.

We're just trying to get sorted here so we can get away with him,

that's the thing.

I don't know what it's like on top of the hill.

If we get to the top of the hill and it's not right,

then he'll just have to continue by road.

OK, we're in the ambulance now, mate, OK?

While the team load Finn into the ambulance,

the chopper waits seven miles away at the top of the hill.

Where we're going, we'd be pushing it to get to Hull and...

MAN SPEAKS INAUDIBLY OVER RADIO

As well as fog, paramedic Darren knows

they're rapidly losing daylight.

I've just been preparing aircraft ready for Lee

and trying to liaise between hospitals and the desk

to try and get everybody ready to take us.

98 to desk. Give James Cook a heads-up, will you, please, mate?

Because we can't be sort of messing around.

Lee's en route in the ambulance.

Yeah, Lee for Daz and Chris. We're just on our way up.

We'll probably be about three or four minutes.

Yeah, Roger. Just for your information,

Hull Royal is not a paediatric trauma centre,

so John has suggested that we transfer to James Cook,

and we are time-pushed now.

The nearest trauma centre for children is 40 miles north

at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

With the light failing, every minute counts.

We're time pressured now, pal, so we've got to boogie along now.

OK, buddy. All right.

When we go to the aircraft, OK, we're going to go feet first.

Everybody all right? On three. One, two, three.

To me, to me, to me and then forward.

-That's that. Keep coming.

-Just bring him up to your chest.

Bring him up to your chest, just steady.

-I'm going to keep hold of that.

-You drop out, Doc.

-Yeah.

-Right. Just keep swinging him around.

There we go.

All right, buddy. Thanks, guys.

All right, mate. What do we call you?

-Finn.

-Finley.

-Finley.

We'll go. You just get ready, Chris, and we'll go, mate.

Just get this door shut.

The fog is now blanketing much of Yorkshire.

At 150mph,

the team need to beat the weather and the setting sun.

It's a tense journey.

But 20 minutes later and in the last moments of daylight...

..the chopper delivers Finn to the waiting trauma team.

-All right, Finn?

-Yeah.

OK, pal, we're here now at James Cook Hospital, Middlesbrough. OK?

Finn will now get scans and X-rays

to help rule out serious head injury and treat his broken leg.

We're going to lift you off now, all right?

OK, are you ready? One, two, three, slide.

OK, everybody happy?

Make sure you're together. Keep going.

Finn now has every chance of a full recovery.

From a road traffic accident in Yorkshire

to a car collision in County Durham,

PC Terry is racing to the scene of a multiple car crash.

We've got...RTC over at Medomsley, three vehicles involved.

And the only information we have so far

is that people are trapped in their cars.

So, we've got units travelling from Consett

and a couple of traffic cars apparently being dispatched as well.

From near Stanley, it's eight miles to the accident

near the village of Medomsley.

Hello, fella. I'm just on my way to an RTC.

Terry and his colleagues attend a serious traffic collision

almost every week.

When travelling to a serious accident, you're worrying about

the type of injuries that you're going to come across.

You're worrying about making sure everybody's OK,

protecting your colleagues, being able to work with medical services,

the ambulance service, the fire service.

All sorts of things for how are you going to deal with that

and how are you going to help those people come through.

Soon, he's following paramedics and other emergency services

also blue lighting to the accident.

Apparently, there's fire crews on scene.

There's three people trapped in one vehicle.

So, we've been asked to go and rendezvous with the air ambulance

and see if we can speed their transition from wherever they land.

Cos as you can see, there's no flat ground.

It's quite wooded as well,

so they may have had to land some distance away.

Here it is.

He spots one of the paramedics from the Great North Air Ambulance.

-Jump in, mate.

-It's just there, isn't it?

-I don't know.

-It's just around the corner.

-Is it? Righto.

-Thanks.

But the accident is only 100 yards ahead.

Well, that's a help, if it is.

Yes, it is. Oh, brilliant.

Two cars have crashed.

One of the drivers is in the back of this ambulance here.

She was in the white car.

She's suffered minor injuries, from what we can gather so far.

Her parents are here.

Her dad, we're told so far, was following up behind her,

has potentially witnessed what had happened.

But three friends - Andrew, Dean and Gareth -

are still trapped inside the black car.

Gareth is in a serious condition.

They were on their way to a rugby match.

Yeah, the fire crew, as you're able to see,

they're cutting the roof off the vehicle.

It's gone into the trees.

The medics that are stood to one side,

they're preparing to put on neck braces

and get in and stabilise people as quickly as possible.

The fire crew will then go through the process of

starting to extricate them out of the vehicle.

It looks like organised chaos.

From being involved with them, you know everything serves a purpose

and you know what all the different organisations of people are doing.

Hydraulic metal cutters slice through the roof.

The crew can now begin to remove the passengers.

But it's a painstaking process.

The boys may have spinal injuries,

so extracting them from the jagged car is difficult.

The orange blankets, where the roof has been cut off,

they're there to protect the ambulance crew, fire crew

and the occupants when they're working around

to get the occupants out of the vehicle.

They slot spinal boards under the injured to gently ease them out.

Fireman Craig Farrage leads the crew.

We always have a two-pronged approach, we have an A and a B plan.

B plan is if everything goes pear-shaped

and we need people out in a hurry, we can get them out.

As it is, the medics appear to be happy for a full extrication,

so they've taken the roof off, maximum amount of space creation,

withdraw them in line through the back on a long board.

It would appear to be a corner to corner,

like a front quarter to front quarter, or approach and a head-on.

Two in the front seem fairly stable, fairly aware.

Guy in the back is a little bit more of a concern.

Terry helps transfer Dean and Andrew to waiting ambulances.

There'll be a few little bumps now.

They'll be taken by road

to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

They'll want the wagon moved in a couple of minutes

so they can get the ambulance out.

But 20-year-old Gareth is still trapped.

He's seriously injured.

The passenger that the fire crew are trying to take out at the moment,

I'm told he'll be going in the air ambulance,

so it will be a case of trying to get him up to the helicopter,

which is roughly 100 metres up the road and in a field.

Finally freed from the wreckage,

Gareth is anaesthetised to stabilise his breathing.

Then he's carefully carried to the chopper.

Could anybody else come up just in case anybody tires?

Guys, just want to drop in the back of there,

just in case we need a swap-over, please?

Gareth's injuries are life-threatening,

but going by helicopter means he'll be into intensive care

at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary within 15 minutes.

Just to make you aware,

all casualties are now away from the scene of the RTC.

Final one just about to take off in the air ambulance.

Terry's shift is nearly over.

One minute, you're searching for missing people and the next,

we're dealing with quite a serious RTC.

You never know what you're going to or what your day's going to bring.

But I'd like to think that everything that we do deal with...

..comes out positive.

Three months after the accident, the lads are all home.

Even Gareth, who spent ten hours on life support.

The first thing I remember, really,

was probably waking up in intensive care.

Yeah, it would have been about ten hours I was in hospital

before I woke and started remembering who I was

and where I was.

The result of the accident, I had two fractures to the pelvis,

a collapsed lung, a crack to the vertebrae

and quite a serious head injury.

Some of the nurses were saying that I'm quite lucky to be alive.

Gareth spent 11 days in hospital.

I can remember, partially, talking to a fireman

as they were cutting the roof off.

I remember him standing behind my head and sort of talking to me.

I think he was trying to reassure that everything would be OK.

But I really have no recollection of the accident.

Take every day as it comes. You never know what's around the corner.

That was just a normal Saturday going to a game.

You do look at life from a different perspective, you really do.

You can't thank the emergency services enough.

Like, you just can't. The things they do.

If it wasn't for them, I probably wouldn't be here.

It's been all go for the emergency services across rural Britain.

Gareth is planning a sponsored three-peak walk next year

to thank the emergency services.

Finn's head injury wasn't serious, but he had broken his femur.

After four months with a pin in his thigh,

he's now back playing football with his friends.

And after his Sunday lunch,

it wasn't long before Martin was out fishing mackerel again.

And who said it was quiet in the countryside?