0:00:02 > 0:00:06A close call - a moment of danger, when life can hang in the balance.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11A split second, where the outcome could go either way.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13I was rooted to the spot with fear.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16The difference between disaster and survival.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Our hearts dropped.
0:00:18 > 0:00:19This was a big crash.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22These are the people that have been there and lived to tell the tale.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24I need an ambulance.
0:00:24 > 0:00:2715 minutes and your number would be up.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Their instincts and resources,
0:00:29 > 0:00:31coupled with the quick thinking of others,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33helped to pull them through.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Could have gone the wrong way, could easily have gone the wrong way.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39And their dramatic experiences were recorded on camera.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41I think there were several things that could have killed me,
0:00:41 > 0:00:43should have killed me, and didn't.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45It's a day they'll never forget.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48The day they had a close call.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05Today on Close Calls...
0:01:05 > 0:01:08A DIY job for a friend leads to disaster...
0:01:19 > 0:01:22..and a medical team have less than five minutes to act.
0:01:22 > 0:01:23He wasn't breathing for himself.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26He didn't have a recordable blood pressure.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28He needed to have the surgery done there and then.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31He couldn't even wait to get up to the theatre.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35Plus, a bus roof is ripped off as passengers
0:01:35 > 0:01:38dive for safety, fearing the worst.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Recent history as it is, the first thing that went
0:01:40 > 0:01:43through my mind was that something had exploded.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45And a photoshoot stunt goes wrong
0:01:45 > 0:01:49when a professional bike rider makes a serious misjudgement.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54He, like, nearly took his head off his shoulders.
0:01:54 > 0:01:55I thought the worst straightaway.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57It was disgusting to watch, you know?
0:02:04 > 0:02:06Putney, West London.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09Gym owner Chris Quinn has dialled 999.
0:02:20 > 0:02:21Chris is right.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25His friend Mark McCoyd has had a catastrophic accident with a power tool.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28He's collapsed on the floor with a puncture wound to his chest.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31He's barely breathing and his condition is worsening.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37Mark's only hope is high-risk surgery.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43He has no chance of survival unless this procedure is done.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46But there isn't even time to get him to the operating theatre.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Aside from his two children,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59Mark McCoyd's passion is restoring classic cars.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03It's how he earns a living and no job is too big for him.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05I do the bodywork and paintwork.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09I like pre-war and after the war, which is my profession
0:03:09 > 0:03:11since I was a boy of 15.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15One of his clients is gym owner Chris Quinn,
0:03:15 > 0:03:16who collects classic vans.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Over the years, the two men have become good friends.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24Mark's been helping me look after the trucks, but I would have been seeing
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Mark on and off for maybe the last...I don't even know,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30maybe 10, 20 years, even.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Mark's work on cars means he's a pretty useful handyman.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36And when Chris needs a job doing at his gym in Putney,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38he knows the person to ask.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41It was a metal security door that he wanted fitted,
0:03:41 > 0:03:47so to do that I had to use an angle grinder to cut
0:03:47 > 0:03:49the bricks out to get the frame in.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52It was, on face value, a fairly easy job.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56An angle grinder is a heavy-duty power tool.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01A motor drives a disc, which can be used to cut through brick and metal.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Mark regularly uses them at his garage.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06It was bigger than the one I would normally use on cars,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09but it's the same principle, you know -
0:04:09 > 0:04:11goggles, mask and gloves.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13You've got a safety shield on the grinder itself
0:04:13 > 0:04:16and that's all you can do, that's all there is to do.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20The safety guarding goggles are essential
0:04:20 > 0:04:22because the disc or blades can break.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26So, kitted up, Mark starts work on the door.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32I got to about three quarters of the way round all the frame
0:04:32 > 0:04:35and obviously on the last bit, before I had time to finish,
0:04:35 > 0:04:40is when the machine got caught and jumped back and hit me in the chest.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46The blow stops Mark in his tracks and the machine cuts out.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50It hit me quite hard. It was like a big thud into the chest.
0:04:50 > 0:04:51There wasn't a lot of pain,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55but I knew at the time that something was not good.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59At first, Mark can't understand what's happened to him
0:04:59 > 0:05:02and isn't even sure he's injured.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04When I looked down I had a small hole,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08a rip of about an inch and a half, two inches, in my jacket.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10I lifted up all my clothing
0:05:10 > 0:05:14and in the centre of my chest there was a hole the size of my finger.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Now Mark knows he's in trouble.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21My breathing was becoming a little bit hard to breathe.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24I pulled all my safety gear off and threw it on the floor.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Upstairs in his office, Chris had been alerted by a faint cry
0:05:30 > 0:05:32and now the sound of silence.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36He heads outside and can't believe what he finds.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38He was lying on the floor with his eyes wide open
0:05:38 > 0:05:42and his mouth open, and he more or less looked like he was dead.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46A stunned Chris immediately dials 999.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48This is the call he made that afternoon.
0:06:15 > 0:06:16Initially, there was no movement,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19no breathing at all and I couldn't hear a heartbeat.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23And while I was talking to the people on the phone,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25basically he made a great, big...
0:06:25 > 0:06:27INHALES SHARPLY
0:06:27 > 0:06:30..noise and then from that point on you could see that he was
0:06:30 > 0:06:33struggling for breath, but there was one of these coming every few
0:06:33 > 0:06:35seconds where he was breathing,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38so I was kind of relieved that he was actually alive at that point.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18Mark is still breathing,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21but it's sporadic and his face is turning purple.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25Chris realises his friend is deteriorating by the second.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45As I was trying to work out what had happened,
0:07:45 > 0:07:49I noticed a very, very small...
0:07:49 > 0:07:52cut about the size of a pound coin,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55right in the centre of his chest.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Later, Chris briefs medics as they arrive at the scene.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10And Mark's condition worsens as his anxious friend watches on.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17At the nearest trauma centre, an emergency team is standing by.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21He was dying and he would be dead, properly dead,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25within four or five minutes of arrival into the department.
0:08:26 > 0:08:27Also coming up,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29a pro biker misjudges a stunt.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Suddenly he was just there, just skidding across the roof.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39His best pal, waiting for him on a rooftop, watches on in horror.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41The sound of the impact was unreal.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43It was a massive bang on the edge of that roof.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Kingsway, London.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01A busy street in Holborn and there's chaos.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Passers-by film the roof of this double-decker bus
0:09:04 > 0:09:06peeled back like a sardine can.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08I hope no-one got hurt.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Businessman Llewellyn Hill is sitting on the top deck
0:09:11 > 0:09:14as the bus travels along the tree-lined street.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18All of a sudden, there was this huge bang.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20All these windows bursting around me.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24The first thing that went through my mind was that something had exploded.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Llewellyn Hill regularly travels from north Wales
0:09:34 > 0:09:35to London for business.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39It's a grey morning in February
0:09:39 > 0:09:42and he's on his way to a seminar in the city.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45He catches the 91 bus at Euston Station
0:09:45 > 0:09:49and heads up to his preferred view on the upper level.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52On the top deck there was maybe 18 or 24 people,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and generally I sit right in the front seat, but, as it turns out,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59on this occasion they were taken, so I went and sat
0:09:59 > 0:10:01about halfway back on the bus
0:10:01 > 0:10:04and decided I'll catch up on my messages on social media.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Although Llewellyn is concentrating on his phone,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11his attention drifts to the window.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Out of the corner of my eye, I did notice some of the street signs
0:10:14 > 0:10:18go past and I thought, "Blimey, that's close to the bus."
0:10:18 > 0:10:22But something is about to come even closer than the passing road signs.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24Dangerously close.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27All of a sudden, there was this huge bang.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32It sounded like a crash of some sort, but instinctively
0:10:32 > 0:10:37I just ducked down because I felt things hitting me.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38Llewellyn fears the worst.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Being in central London and being on a bus,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44and recent history as it is, the first thing that went
0:10:44 > 0:10:47through my mind was that something had exploded.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53As the debris stops falling and the bus comes to a standstill,
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Llewellyn dares to move again.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57Well, when I picked myself up off the seat
0:10:57 > 0:11:00I was surprised to discover there was a lot of blue sky above me,
0:11:00 > 0:11:05so it did take what seemed a few seconds to absorb what had happened.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10Onlookers filmed the catastrophic scene.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13The roof of the bus has hit some low hanging branches
0:11:13 > 0:11:18and has been ripped right off, over the heads of all the passengers.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21There was a chap in the aisle on his hands and knees, and he looked
0:11:21 > 0:11:24up at me, looking quite frightened, with blood streaming down his face.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27There were more people to the back of the bus, some of them
0:11:27 > 0:11:29were holding their heads in their hands,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32looking like they had been hurt or hit by something.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34That was when I noticed that the roof of the bus was actually
0:11:34 > 0:11:38resting on the back of the bus, like a big skateboard ramp.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42Emergency services arrive and guide people off the bus.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Miraculously, no-one's been seriously injured.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Before leaving, Llewellyn records the scene himself.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55I took the opportunity to take some photos from on the top deck of the bus.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Well, I suppose there was a million thoughts flying
0:11:58 > 0:11:59through my head at the time.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02I don't think I comprehended, even then,
0:12:02 > 0:12:05just how serious the incident had been.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07All that was left standing was these blue handrails.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10If it wasn't for those handrails, with that roof leaving the bus at
0:12:10 > 0:12:13speed, and if it had landed on people,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15that would have been pretty ugly.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19After such a close call, Llewellyn has been
0:12:19 > 0:12:21cautious about travelling by bus.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25But a couple of months later, he returns to London to face his fears.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31I was contemplating, "Am I going to take the number 91 bus on the
0:12:31 > 0:12:35very same route past the very same tree?"
0:12:35 > 0:12:37I decided I'd better man up.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39They say if you fall off a horse,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41the only thing to do is get back on it.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46And, actually, I photographed the tree and posted it out on my social media,
0:12:46 > 0:12:51saying that was the tree that caused it last time.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05Accidents happen every now and again in most people's lives.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09For professional sports people, they are calculated risks,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12but there are times when those calculations go wrong.
0:13:14 > 0:13:15In Southsea, Portsmouth,
0:13:15 > 0:13:20professional BMX competition riders Mark Webb and Alex Coleborn
0:13:20 > 0:13:23rehearse some tricks for a sports magazine photo shoot.
0:13:25 > 0:13:26I just love riding.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29I just think it's amazing and there's not a better feeling than
0:13:29 > 0:13:33jumping through the air or doing things that scare you and then you're pulling it.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35There's no better reward than that.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39But during a particularly tricky manoeuvre,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42Alex's head hits the roof of a building.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47His friend Mark comes rushing to his aid.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49I thought the worst straightaway.
0:13:49 > 0:13:50I knew it was serious.
0:13:50 > 0:13:51The sound of the impact was unreal.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55It nearly took his head off his shoulders.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11BMX racing is now an Olympic event.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15BMX freestyle isn't yet, but it's a growing sport that's
0:14:15 > 0:14:19attracted 23-year-old Alex Coleborn since he was a youngster.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25Alex's boyhood dream was to follow in the bike tracks of this guy -
0:14:25 > 0:14:27five times BMX champion Mark Webb.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Alex became very skilled at freestyle himself.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Now, this is him aged just 17, performing tricks in a video
0:14:45 > 0:14:50his parents made and sent to his hero Mark without Alex knowing.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54Alex's mum and dad sent me an actual letter to the skate park,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56"This is Alex, this is my son.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58He wants to come over and ride." It was cool, actually,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02that his parents had gone to the effort of doing that.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Mark was immediately impressed with what he saw.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08I checked out the video and there was just something about Alex,
0:15:08 > 0:15:10and I thought, "He's actually amazing, really good."
0:15:10 > 0:15:14The next thing you know, he ends up staying down this way and riding,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17and we end up becoming really good friends.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19And Alex has turned professional himself,
0:15:19 > 0:15:23earning a living from his passion and winning many titles,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26much to the pleasure of his mentor.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29He is definitely a genius when it comes to riding a BMX bike.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31There is nothing that he can't do.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35One summer's day, Alex and Mark head to a skate park
0:15:35 > 0:15:40in Southsea for a photo session with a sports magazine.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43It was a good day, it was a sunny day down Southsea,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46so everyone was just chilled, cruising about.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48A photographer is taking action shots.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52Alex is hoping to pull off one of his most ambitious tricks yet.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57I was fine that day, I felt good on my bike.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59I wasn't really worried about the trick.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01I was pretty confident in myself that I was going to pull it.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05The photographer captures the action from the bottom of the ramp.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09As Alex warms up for the main event,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13performing a few comparatively straightforward barrel rolls.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15It's kind of a backflip but just on the side,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18so you kind of barrel roll over yourself.
0:16:18 > 0:16:19But Alex is planning on
0:16:19 > 0:16:22combining this manoeuvre with another highly skilled technique.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27There was talks about trying a barrel roll with a tail whip.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31A tail whip's when you spin the bike a full 360 with you
0:16:31 > 0:16:32staying in the same space,
0:16:32 > 0:16:37so your bike leaves your feet and then comes back and you catch to it.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42It's a trick he's successfully performed in the past, but today,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46on the very first attempt, something goes drastically wrong.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51You all right? You all right?
0:16:51 > 0:16:55As the camera continues to film, Mark, fearing the worst,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58heads to his injured friend's side.
0:16:58 > 0:16:59I just didn't expect it.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02The barrel roll that he was doing was so consistent.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Suddenly it was just... And he was there,
0:17:04 > 0:17:06just skidding across the roof.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Alex is bleeding heavily from his nose and mouth.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12He is in a complete daze.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14I didn't have a clue what was going on.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17All I remember is trying to stand up and then Mark was like,
0:17:17 > 0:17:21"Oh, you all right? You all right?" Like, seeing if I was OK.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24I thought the worst straightaway. It was disgusting to watch.
0:17:24 > 0:17:25I knew it was serious.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29I knew just by the sound of the impact, it was unreal.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31It was a massive bang on the edge of that roof.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38He nearly took his head off at his shoulders.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42His neck bent all the way back to his back.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45He was folded in half. It was horrible.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50The impact is so severe Alex could have fractured his skull or
0:17:50 > 0:17:54even broken his neck, but he's conscious and moving.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57It just kind of felt like my head was throbbing cos I hit it
0:17:57 > 0:18:01so hard, and I was just a little bit dizzy and spat my gum shield out
0:18:01 > 0:18:03and I could see my tooth in it.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06As more people come to his aid,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09a member of the team calls an ambulance.
0:18:09 > 0:18:10Alex is helped down off the roof
0:18:10 > 0:18:15and it looks like he's escaped life threatening injuries.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17He can't remember exactly what happened,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19but Mark is able to fill him in.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26The paramedics arrive and treat Alex at the scene.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30His face shows the effects of the high impact smash.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32I knocked out my front tooth here and then
0:18:32 > 0:18:35I bent this one back a little bit and I broke my nose,
0:18:35 > 0:18:37and then obviously I had fat lips
0:18:37 > 0:18:41and stuff like that, just from where the impact was on my face.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Alex still doesn't remember everything that happened that day,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50but he's studied the footage to try to find out what went wrong.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54This is where I'm getting my run up, obviously, to hit the roof
0:18:54 > 0:18:59and it was at this point here where my foot fell off the pedal,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03and that's basically where it all went wrong.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06It could have been worse. It could have been a lot worse.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08It looked worse.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12It is pretty scary to watch it and think that I did hit my head and neck
0:19:12 > 0:19:14off the roof and it snapped back,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17so it's kind of like, it could have broken easy.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Your neck's not a very strong part of your body,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22so it could have easily broken,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25and I think I did get away with it really lucky.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30The accident doesn't hold Alex back for long.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33He's soon back on his bike to continue his successful career,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36recently winning a major world title.
0:19:38 > 0:19:39Alex is a tough kid like no other.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43He'd bounce himself off the ground and jump up and go, "Yeah, I'm all right."
0:19:43 > 0:19:44For maybe like a week or two
0:19:44 > 0:19:48I was a bit cautious of doing things because obviously
0:19:48 > 0:19:51I didn't want to hit my face again, but you soon forget about it.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54I'm sure if it was now, he'd do that barrel roll onto the roof
0:19:54 > 0:19:57again no problem without the hiccup that he had that day.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Back in Putney, West London, gym owner Chris
0:20:11 > 0:20:13is on the line to the emergency services.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16His friend Mark is on the ground, struggling to breathe.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Just a few minutes ago, the blade on a heavy-duty power tool he was
0:20:22 > 0:20:26using shattered, hitting him in the chest with devastating consequences.
0:20:28 > 0:20:29An ambulance is on its way.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49Within five minutes, the ambulance arrives at the scene.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54I have no idea how long it took the ambulance to come here.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56As far as I'm concerned, it was a very, very quickly.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00It was almost as if they were hanging around outside.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02The paramedics rushed to Mark's side.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05Chris' open phone line records him briefing them.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22One of the paramedics at the scene is David Biginton,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26who immediately realises that Mark is in serious danger.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29When I saw Mark's wound,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31it was a two centimetre by one centimetre hole,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34basically, and being hit with an angle grinder you might
0:21:34 > 0:21:38have expected a much more open wound, a more extensive wound.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41So my concerns really were what underlying structures
0:21:41 > 0:21:44has he injured. Is it his lung, is it his heart?
0:21:44 > 0:21:46Given that it was over the top of both of them, pretty much.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49If it was his lung, the chances are it would have been bubbling
0:21:49 > 0:21:51air through the blood, which it wasn't.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53And given its location,
0:21:53 > 0:21:55the most likely injury it could have done was his heart.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01If I'm honest, I thought his chances were probably slim,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04so, apart from a bit of sedative and some oxygen,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07the only other treatment that he got was the decision to get him
0:22:07 > 0:22:10to hospital as quick as possible and the right hospital.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15With Mark onboard the ambulance, the paramedics head to
0:22:15 > 0:22:18St George's Hospital in south London -
0:22:18 > 0:22:20the nearest major trauma centre.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25En route to the hospital his vital signs were changing,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28identifying that something internally was going wrong.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30We pretty much came to the conclusion that he was
0:22:30 > 0:22:32probably having a cardiac tamponade,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34which is bleeding around the sack of the heart.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Paramedic Dave asks the ambulance control centre to ring
0:22:37 > 0:22:40ahead to the emergency department,
0:22:40 > 0:22:42but consultant Dr William Glazebrook
0:22:42 > 0:22:45and his trauma team are on full alert.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49At about 2:45, our red phone went off.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54The London Ambulance Service were telling us to expect a middle-aged
0:22:54 > 0:22:58gentleman who had an injury to the centre of his chest.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01When Mark arrives, Dr Glazebrook and the team realise
0:23:01 > 0:23:03that this is about as bad as it gets.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07He wasn't breathing for himself, he didn't have a recordable blood
0:23:07 > 0:23:12pressure and his heart was going at about 140/150 beats per minute.
0:23:12 > 0:23:17It's not clear what the injury is, but it's obviously life-threatening.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20He was dying and he would be dead, properly dead,
0:23:20 > 0:23:24within four or five minutes of arrival into the department.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Dr Glazebrook and his team will have to operate right here,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30right now, in the emergency department.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35His injuries were so severe he needed to have the surgery done there and then.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38He couldn't even wait to get up to the theatre,
0:23:38 > 0:23:41even if it was ready there and then.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45Mark's condition is deteriorating so much that Dr Glazebrook has
0:23:45 > 0:23:48no choice but to carry out a highly dangerous procedure
0:23:48 > 0:23:50called a thoracotomy.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54The operation has a less than one in five chance of success.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57If Mark hadn't had this procedure,
0:23:57 > 0:24:01he has a 100% mortality rate,
0:24:01 > 0:24:05ie, he has no chance of survival unless this procedure is done.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11We cut from one side of the chest to the other side of the chest
0:24:11 > 0:24:13and open up the whole of the chest
0:24:13 > 0:24:18so we have a really good access to the heart and to the lungs
0:24:18 > 0:24:21to find out and diagnose what injury was killing Mark.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25And it's soon clear what's going wrong.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27When we opened Mark's chest,
0:24:27 > 0:24:31all we could see was a big bag of blood clot
0:24:31 > 0:24:36and the procedure then is literally to make a small hole in this bag,
0:24:36 > 0:24:41and to remove all of that blood clot from around the heart.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44As soon as we did that, Mark's heart then came into view,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48started filling up with blood and started beating again.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Finally, Mark's heart starts working.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56It reveals the full extent of the damage caused by the angle grinder.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00We noticed three small jets of blood coming out of the holes
0:25:00 > 0:25:04in the heart and, initially, all we did was put our fingers
0:25:04 > 0:25:06on the three holes to stop them from within.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08Like plugging a leaking Dam,
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Dr Glazebrook and his team stitch up the holes in Mark's heart.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15Once we'd got control of the bleeding in Mark's chest,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17he went up to our cardiothoracic theatre
0:25:17 > 0:25:22with our cardiothoracic surgeons, where the procedure that we'd done
0:25:22 > 0:25:25was tidied up and his chest was closed.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Just hours after almost losing his life,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Mark awakes in the intensive care unit.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37When you wake up, you sort of just come to automatically.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39He's desperate to see his children.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44My daughter and my boy, Emma and Lewis,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46were the first people that I saw.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50And considering what I'd been told already that I'd gone through,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52I might never have seen them again.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Seeing my kids was brilliant, it was the best thing ever.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03Mark's next visitor is a man who is also very pleased to see him.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06He probably actually looked better than he does on a normal day.
0:26:06 > 0:26:07They cleaned him up, shaved him,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09washed his hair and he was sitting up there
0:26:09 > 0:26:12and he was just telling them he's bored and wants to get out.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15I mean, this was just moments after the operation.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Mark knows that he owes his friend a huge debt of gratitude.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Without Chris coming to actually look out the door
0:26:22 > 0:26:25and check on me, I wouldn't have been alive.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30It remains a mystery just how the angle grinder made
0:26:30 > 0:26:32the three holes in Mark's heart.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34But it was the quick action of the medical team,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37prepared to carry out the high risk operation while he was
0:26:37 > 0:26:42still in the emergency department that ultimately saved his life.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45I've done this procedure about 12 times now
0:26:45 > 0:26:48and this is the first survivor that I have had
0:26:48 > 0:26:52in the seven or eight years that I've been able to perform this.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59It is actually a miracle that he's still with us.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03I mean, if it had been an inch or even a centimetre,
0:27:03 > 0:27:07a tiny little bit either way, he probably wouldn't be here now.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12This is the closest I've ever come to dying.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16Without all those circumstances just happening instantly like that,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18I wouldn't be here at the moment.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24And Mark will forever be indebted to the team at St George's Hospital
0:27:24 > 0:27:27who managed to bring him back from the brink.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Mark basically came in dead to our department.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Some people described his case as a bit of a miracle.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36I don't believe he was a miracle.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39I think his case is what the trauma networks
0:27:39 > 0:27:42that are set up around the country now are for.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44It's him, it's his particular patient.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46He was found quickly,
0:27:46 > 0:27:49the ambulance crew recognised he had a significant injury,
0:27:49 > 0:27:52he was brought to a department where this procedure could be
0:27:52 > 0:27:55done on him immediately, but for that, he would have died.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Close calls with a positive ending - that's what we like.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Join us next time.