Episode 10 Real Rescues

Today, an accident unlike any we've seen.

A tree has somehow smashed straight through a car, skewering it from front to back.

We're with a 999 call-taker as she meets for the first time,

the child she saved after he suffered a cardiac arrest.

And a 2012 Olympic hopeful's dreams could be shattered as she breaks and dislocates her ankle in training.

As she's hit the floor, I've heard her scream and, not a snapping sound, more like a rip.

Hello and welcome to Real Rescues.

We're at the South Central Ambulance control room, and ambulance crews

are being sent out to all kinds of locations. Louise.

Yes, let me tell you about one of the things they've been called out for.

They're worried about an elderly lady.

A car crashed into her house, into the front room of her house.

She's in medical shock so they've sent out somebody to try and look after her. Nick.

The Fire and Rescue Service are used to getting people out of all sorts of wreckage alive.

But even they feared the worst when they arrived at this scene on an otherwise quiet Sunday morning.

All the emergency services are present at a country road in Sussex.

A huge tree has blown over straight into the path of this unlucky car.

One of its large branches has smashed through the windscreen and out the back.

It's skewered right through the centre of the car.

Surely nobody inside could have survived this.

Amazingly somebody had survived, two people in fact.

Firefighter Derek was at the scene.

You must have arrived there and thought whoever was in that car had suffered serious injuries?

Yeah, looking at what we first came across, we came from

the other side of the tree, so we had to climb over it,

and saw the branch going through the car and out the back.

I didn't think there would be anybody alive inside it.

The thing that I find most extraordinary is, this is where you've taken

the roof off to free the passengers, but at the back where it comes out,

it's got this massive turn that looks like it would have taken the heads off anybody inside.

The first thing you've got to do is stabilise the tree

before you start work on the car and the people, isn't it?

Yes, if the tree had gone through straight, it would have

taken out the lady passenger as well.

It must have gone through at an angle.

And as you say, we had to stabilise the tree first, before we could stabilise the car,

-to get the lady out.

-Get the lady out.

Because in fact, Ray and his wife Josie survived to tell the tale.

Here is Ray. Squeeze in a little bit, Ray.

Very pleased to see you looking so well.

You're still looking at the pictures.

You look shocked by them. How is your wife, by the way?

She's fine, yes.

-She didn't quite fancy coming on?

-No.

Let's show you some more pictures, because there are shots here

of the tree, and that's your wife. The extraordinary thing is,

that branch is right on her chest, isn't it?

That's right. Yes.

Do you have any memory of the tree coming through the car?

Nothing at all. We couldn't hear it.

Didn't hear a sound.

-Just driving along happily?

-Yes, yes.

And the next thing, when we came round, we just spoke to one another.

And I asked her how she was.

We must have both come round at the same time.

-And you managed to get yourself out?

-Yes.

But you actually had to cut the tree, parts of the tree away, the bit that we saw on top of her chest.

Yes, we had to stabilise the tree first of all, then the car, and we

had to cut part of a branch off that was resting against her chest.

That cut piece, that obviously the tree surgeon had

taken off at some stage, if that had been another six inches longer...

Yes, she probably wouldn't be here now.

And if the tree had gone through the car in any other direction...

It still would have taken the lady out.

You must think you are blessed, don't you think?

Definitely. It was just a sheer miracle.

There's no other word for it.

You said it yourself, it's nice to meet up here with Derek.

-Oh, yes.

-Because you guys haven't had a chance to meet.

-No.

-It's nice to meet up with a patient.

-Yes, very nice.

I tell you what, you must be... You have had a whole new start in life.

-Yeah, that's right.

-Lovely. Thanks for coming in and talking to us.

And congratulations on an extraordinary escape.

-And on the work that you do, Derek.

-Thank you very much.

Now, when Dr Paul Rees responded to this next emergency, the dreams

of one of Britain's Olympic athletes were resting on his shoulders.

Emergency specialist Dr Paul Rees is rushing to one of the UK's top gymnastic schools.

A 13-year-old has suffered a nasty fall during training.

There's deformity of the lower leg, so that suggests a fracture or fracture dislocation.

The fracture may have impinged on the blood supply to the foot.

Dr Paul heads into Dynamo Gym to find Lora in extreme pain.

What were you doing? Were you up on the vault? Oh dear.

-Is that very sore?

-Lora's one of the country's most talented gymnasts.

She's hurt herself during a vital practice for

the forthcoming English Championship, a stepping-stone to the Olympics.

Looks like you might have broken a bone, then.

Everyone here realises this accident could put her Olympic hopes in jeopardy.

Fellow gymnast Nathan saw it all happen.

As she's left the vault and she's coming down, a little bit sideways,

I thought it would hurt, and Debbie's already shouted "Foot"

before she hit the floor. She knew what would happen.

When she's hit the floor, I've heard her scream, then,

not a snapping sound, it were more like a rip.

But I was stood a good ten metres away, so not a nice... It must have been quite loud.

Lora's clearly in agony.

Can you feel me touch you?

Wiggle your toes a little bit for me.

OK, that's fine, good. That's all fine. All right?

She urgently needs some pain relief.

I'll put a drip in and give you some painkiller.

Make you feel a little sleepy, a little woozy. But it will take the pain away.

We can put a nice big splint on here and your leg will be comfortable for the trip to hospital.

Lora's ankle is completely out of shape and Paul's examination has confirmed the worst.

Looks like she's got a fractured ankle.

We'll have to move that a little before we take her to hospital

so I'm going to give her some intravenous morphine as pain relief.

OK, look away, think about something nice.

Lora's being incredibly brave.

As well as putting up with all the pain, she knows this could

be the end of her championship dreams and of representing her country in gymnastics.

Lora's a fantastic gymnast.

She's super talented. She's trained with the GB squad in Romania.

She's working towards the junior Euros.

She's in the potential Great Britain squad at the moment, so all the best coaches and whatnot around England,

they've said she's good enough, she can make it to the Olympics.

Lora's mum and dad, Lorraine and Kevin, have just arrived.

Hi, Dr Rees, how you doing? Ankle's a little bit sore.

We're going to give her a nice injection of some painkiller now to sort that out.

Lorraine's horrified at the look of her daughter's foot, but she's not letting on.

I felt a bit sick, actually, because Lora had never actually had a fall,

so to be told they make were calling an ambulance down for her was quite,

"Oh, my God, let's get there quickly".

So it was really kind of stomach-churning.

Not knowing what you're going to find and it was just awful, really.

Feeling any effects from that injection? Feeling a bit sleepy yet?

It will make you feel all nice and warm and comfortable.

OK. At least you've got Mum here.

'I was just there, not to worry about what I was going through, but to make sure she was OK.'

If you fall apart, that doesn't help her.

Lora's ankle is dislocated as well as broken.

If it's not put back in place quickly, the injury could put

her whole foot in danger, so Paul has to pull it straight.

These injuries are very serious.

They almost always need surgery to fix them and, in some cases,

can take a very long time to heal indeed.

So there is real threat to limb in this situation, so it's important

to realign the fracture as soon as possible, to splint it adequately,

and that requires some decent heavyweight painkillers first.

This is an extremely painful but necessary procedure, so Paul gives her the extra dose of morphine.

Lora's friend Kerry is going to try and help her through.

Fortunately, it only takes a quick manipulation.

There we go, that's good.

That's good. It's done. That's the worst bit done. You're a star, aren't you?

I was stood back where I was before it happened

and the way her foot was all, like, zig-zaggy, and all swelling up.

You just heard it, like, pop back into place. I watched him do it.

It was something I wouldn't want to see again. It was disgusting.

It's all been too much for one man.

-Lora's dad, is he all right?

-No, he's not.

He looks a bit funny, there, yeah.

He's not very good with blood and he loves his children very much

and to see any of them hurt, he just can't stand it, basically.

And when they pulled the cover back and he saw the shape of Lora's

foot, it turned his stomach. He just, "No, I've got to get out."

The worst is over. Lora's on her way to A & E, where her ankle will be X-rayed.

Her dad is feeling a bit better now, as well.

It's not very nice watching us move that leg, but better to have it pointing the right way.

I thought, if I stayed in there any longer, you're going to have to pick me up.

I know. I'm sorry it was a bit of a shock, but everything's looking a lot better now.

Lora's in safe hands but this injury could spell the end of her Olympic hopes.

Lora's here with her mum as well.

Lora, you were so brave.

How much did it hurt?

It hurt quite a lot.

-On a scale of 1 to 10?

-About a ten.

And you were doing that sort of breathing as well.

How did you know how to do that?

My coach told me to breathe.

And when did you know it was really bad? As soon as you landed?

Yeah, I automatically felt the shock of pain.

And I stayed still because I couldn't actually move.

As I say, you were incredibly brave. You then arrived. When did you know this was really serious

and could affect her future, actually?

I suppose, once I got there, when they said they had to put it back,

but not actually seeing it until later.

You were both feeling a bit squeamish and we're going to show the viewers at home why.

It just looks incredibly bad now, doesn't it?

On the tape, doesn't it?

-Yeah!

-We're going to show people here as well.

-Let's see what it looks like now. It's a vast improvement, isn't it?

-Yeah.

So we've got stitches on this side.

Stitches on that side as well. Is it still a bit swollen, Lora?

Yeah, it goes swollen more after a training session.

At the moment it's not too bad.

You're still training, and you're training with help here from Dom?

Dom, you're her physio. We've got an X-ray of what they

-had to do in the hospital, to show people, cos she's got pins in there, hasn't she?

-Yes, she has.

There are two breaks.

So there are two pins in the X-ray.

With a young ankle, or any young joint, you need to make sure

that the growth plates are mended properly, there's a good alignment.

You can't screw through the growth plates. You need to avoid it if you can.

Incredibly important, for all of us, actually, cos we're hoping she makes 2012.

How is this going to affect her, do you think?

If all goes well, if she trains hard and rehabilitates well, she will

probably have one of the screws out in the next six months or so,

so there will be a short delay for that and then back into training, so she'll be OK for 2012.

-That's brilliant!

-Yeah.

You're back in the gym but not doing what you were doing before?

Yeah. Not doing anything like what I was doing before.

We can have a little look actually because you went to Russia, didn't you?

-This is what you were capable of doing.

-Yeah.

-And that, correct me if I'm wrong, is a vault.

-Yes, a vault.

Are you doing that yet?

No. I can't even run yet.

When do you think you're going to be back to doing this kind of thing on

the parallel bars and all the rest of it?

I can do bars

but not like over the pit, the foam pit.

So I don't land on it or anything.

So you're having to be really careful. How many hours are you doing in the gym?

I'm not doing as much as I used to.

I used to come out of school to do gym, but now I just come in the evening for three hours.

Just the three hours! You're going to be there in 2012.

-Do you think she's going to make it?

-Yeah, she's dedicated enough.

If she pushes herself like she's been doing.

You're certainly a determined young lady.

-You're very brave, as well. Good luck. I shall be watching you. Lora, thank you.

-Thanks!

Still to come on Real Rescues.

A rider is crushed under half a ton of horse

and could have life-threatening internal injuries.

I'm just going to press.

-It feels like it's shooting up into the hip.

-OK.

One year on, a call handler finally gets the chance to meet the young boy whose life she saved.

To be sitting here today and seeing Hamish like this is amazing after everything that happened that day.

Now, it's all hands on deck as the emergency services help a policeman who's in trouble himself.

He's stuck in the freezing waters near Portsmouth.

The estuaries and narrow waterways that almost cut Portsmouth off from

the mainland are a playground for sailors of all kinds.

But the cold and fast-flowing tides do pose dangers.

A 999 call has come in.

PC Derek Hearn is searching for a man in trouble on the water.

Do you know whereabouts this person's supposed to be.

A kayak has capsized and its owner is in the freezing water.

Yep, Simon, he's a canoeist.

He's been helped by some local workmen.

Another police officer and a member of the coastguard are already there. They've thrown him a line,

but the man refuses to get out without his kayak.

I'll go down there.

He's been in the water for some time and is obviously struggling,

but so far he's turned down all offers of help.

Can you tie your boat to that line, mate?

'I found it quite strange that he wasn't getting out of the water.

'It was difficult to'

pull him out ourselves or take any action because of where he was.

I couldn't get down the bank,

it was very slippery and very wet and quite steep.

The current was very fast flowing.

The tide was going out and I was concerned

even myself or anybody else would fall into the water, as well.

The man seems to be having difficulty reeling in the kayak but he has a reason for not letting go.

He doesn't want to risk losing his keys which are in the kayak

but he can't move his hands to tie the rope.

He's freezing and could be suffering from the early stages of hypothermia.

My hands are too cold.

Derek decides it's time to act and tries to grab the rope.

I haven't got enough of it, I haven't got enough.

I haven't got enough.

'Once I started helping the man pull the kayak

'I could see why it was so difficult for him'

to pull out on his own.

The anchor had buried itself into the ground and we were both having difficulty in trying to free it.

With a little support from his colleague, they managed to drag the kayak free...

Right, there, quick, quick, quick...

Put something around that.

..and, finally, get the man safely away from the water.

It turns out that the canoeist is Patch Collins, an off-duty

policeman, and he's been through quite an ordeal.

Somehow he survived being dragged upside down in his kayak under the bridge by the fast-flowing tide.

Paramedic, Rob Isherwood, has arrived to check him over

but Patch's priority is still his car keys.

The keys are just where he left them.

I'm not injured, just very cold at the moment.

In his frozen state, Patch seems unsure of what to do next.

There's still the risk of hypothermia.

Can someone tie that for me, please?

'One of the first things you'll notice'

about someone's who's hypothermic is

that they can become very withdrawn from their situations.

It's almost like the brain is shutting down slowly

so they become disorientated and disengaged from what's going on.

They become very confused and their behaviour may become very bizarre and abnormal.

But now back on dry land, Patch is warming up and seems to be getting better.

He's able to explain exactly what happened.

Because the tide was too high I couldn't get under the bridge,

so I anchored up and sat and had my lunch.

-On the other side, this side?

-Yeah, in the middle.

Then the anchor went, took me under the bridge, but it was too high,

-so I literally hit the bridge...

-And the kayak turned over?

-It swept me through.

-'He was actually wearing a dry suit, so although his

'outer layers were very, very wet, he wasn't as wet as he could have been.'

That obviously pays dividends and reduces the risk of any further harm.

Patch had done all the right things.

Given the weather conditions, he'd been very sensible.

After thanking everyone for their help, Patch decides a brisk walk back to his car will do him good.

The coastguard will watch over his kayak until his return.

And Patch has been good enough to come and join us in the ambulance control room here.

I should say before I ask my first question, Patch has won a

-commendation for saving someone's life when he caught someone trying to jump off a bridge.

-Yes.

So he has a commendation, he's a policeman of eight years, he knows what he's doing.

So the first question has to be, what were you thinking?

I don't know.

I was just thinking I was very scared and very cold. That's it.

It is extraordinary that you became obsessed

with these keys that were in the boat.

Looking back at it now, I don't know why but it was the

one thing I could focus on. It was the only thing I could think of.

-You weren't getting out without those keys?

-No, just a set of car keys.

No sentimental value, that's all they were but I wasn't going to get out without them.

I was thinking, was it a Rolls-Royce?

It must be one hell of a car.

-It's a bit of a granny mobile, actually.

-Is it really?

Yeah, it's just a little run around.

When the guys turned up and were trying to help you,

you were like, "It's all right, I've got this under control."

Having worked in situations where people become obsessed,

has it helped you in dealing with people and realising how

someone's mind can become focused on one thing?

Yeah, definitely, I don't know why I was thinking

that but being in that situation now I can think why people may do it.

It gives you a focus and it will certainly help me in future, I think.

If someone's like that, I can understand because I've been there and felt that way.

Absolutely, and we saw you get up and you were cold, so you went off for a walk.

It was like, "Thanks very much, everyone", and wandered off.

Yeah, that was it. At the end of it, I'm OK, I can just go and sort myself out

and do it from there, but looking back at it, it was quite scary.

It was getting to the point where it was quite serious.

Have you managed to have a chat with the chaps who helped you out?

I thanked them at the scene and I've spoken to them, especially some of the ones...

-I've got a bit of ribbing from it.

-Have you really?

A little bit, yeah.

It was all in good fun. I was very grateful to them.

It's very nice of you to come in and chat and I think quite brave, given the fact, as I say,

it just goes to show, no matter much you know about how things can go in those situations, you can become

-focused on one thing and not necessarily to your own benefit.

-I would agree with that.

-Thanks very much. Cheers.

-Thank you.

Next, an emergency call made not by a friend or

family member but actually by a GP visiting one of his patients.

There is a chance the man might not make it to hospital in time.

The ambulance crew are on blue lights racing to a man in his 60s.

A GP has called them out after finding his patient barely able to breath.

On board are Colin Rutchell and John Lund.

Hello, there. Good afternoon, sir. Is it OK if I have a listen to your chest, is that all right?

I know the doctor's already done it but I'd like a listen myself, OK?

David Brewer has been suffering from emphysema for many years.

It's a progressive condition which destroys the lung tissue.

In the last hour he's taken a dramatic turn for the worse

and has started to turn blue from lack of oxygen.

Even finding the breath to speak takes a monumental effort.

What's harder for you, David, to breathe in or breathe out?

Or, is it just hard all round?

Colin confers with David's GP.

Very, very shallow on his...

There's hardly any air on entry to the left.

Yeah, I reckon so.

I think, quite possibly, straight into resus, I reckon.

It's looking worse than they first thought.

A collapsed lung is life-threatening for someone with David's medical history.

'A collapsed lung, a pneumothorax,'

can progress to tension pneumothorax which puts pressure on other organs.

'It is a time-critical condition.'

We need to get you onto this chair, OK, and get you out to the ambulance.

All right? Are you ready with us, David?

Let me know when you are, OK.

David is now so weak and frightened that even getting to the chair feels too much for him.

Right, David, we've got to go for this. OK?

Sorry about this, but we've really got to do this now. OK, hold onto my elbow.

Just stand with us nice and gently.

Nice and gently does it. All right. DAVID WHEEZES

That's it.

Just turn around. Can you get the chair ready.

OK, thank you.

The high wheeze tells the emergency crews just how shallow his breathing is.

Every move makes it even more difficult.

Colin is doing his best to reassure him.

Nice and steady.

OK, you've got good oxygen flow there, all right?

This is on two wheels. We're going to tilt you backwards.

As relaxed as you can do for us.

-All right?

-Away we go.

-Well done.

They safely convey him to the ambulance.

-David, we're going to lift you up off the chair.

-DAVID WHEEZES

All right. I know, I appreciate it's hard for you, David.

Just bear with us, OK.

Gentleman, one, two, three...

Everything's going to happen pretty fast at the moment, David. All right?

It takes a lot of effort to call out but David wants to make sure

his wife is with him.

-There she is.

-Margaret's just by the door.

She's outside there, mate. We'll bring her with us, don't worry.

SATs are 87, pulse 134. So, I'm not going to...

I'm going to stick a needle in his arm.

SATs reveal the level of oxygen in his blood, 87, is perilously low.

David, I just want to stick a little needle in your arm, OK?

Time critical and life-threatening conditions, we always prepare for the worst.

The idea of inserting the cannula before we left was so,

should David's condition deteriorate, we'd already have the cannula there,

so we could give the drugs that we need to in those circumstances.

As soon as this is in we'll be on our way.

We'll be going in on blue lights,

-so we're going to be pushing through the traffic and everything else.

-OK.

As Margaret gets settled in, Colin gives David some stronger medication via a nebuliser

to aid his breathing on the journey.

This should open up your airways a little bit, OK?

Margaret watched David cope with his illness for years

but this crisis is something altogether different.

Margaret was very distressed.

Obviously she kept herself calm, probably to help keep David calm.

We're strangers to the patient yet they look upon us as a form of help

but we are effectively strangers to that patient.

They need a family member to ride with them to help with the reassurance

and it's good for us because it helps to keep them calm.

As they set off, David starts to worry about the nebuliser.

He's not convinced it's doing any good.

You feel hot? You are, you're boiling.

You're working very hard at the moment.

You feel hot on that stuff?

What it seems like to me is that you might have a collapsed lung,

which is why you're having difficulty breathing, OK?

But, by this stuff opening up the good airways, it will help oxygenate the good lung, OK.

David was distressed and having a face mask on when you're struggling to breathe

is sometimes distressing for the patient, even more.

It's imperative that David kept it on.

The nebuliser takes a little bit of time to work,

and when it does start working people feel the benefit straightaway.

You're doing really well.

Really well... Open your eyes for me.

Open your eyes, excellent. Well done.

Throughout the journey, Colin is constantly checking David's vital signs,

just in case he deteriorates still further.

Just keep breathing nice and still, well done.

Put your head straight for me if you can do.

Fantastic. We're now pulling into the hospital grounds, OK.

I'm just going to put some oxygen down here, OK.

Just so we can keep you running on oxygen on the way in.

It's been a very difficult journey for David

but there are signs that the drugs are starting to take effect.

Do you feel any better at all, David?

You do a little bit?

Good.

David is still in a critical condition

but they've got him to hospital without further deterioration,

giving him the best chance of survival.

Dave was in hospital for a week after that but he's now home

and he's recovered from his collapsed lung.

I've just got an update from Michelle about that elderly lady.

A car had crashed into the front room of her house, and when the ambulance crew turned up

she said, "I've survived the Blitz, I can survive this,"

which is just brilliant. Nick.

That's nice to hear, OK.

Now, falling off a horse is bad enough but when that horse then falls onto you,

it drastically increases the chance of serious injury.

That's exactly what happened to 19-year-old Lauren Hodges.

A call goes out to the Great North Air Ambulance.

PHONE RINGS

Hello, air ambulance.

Fall from horse, and then the horse has landed on her.

Right, I'll send the helicopter, it's got a doctor on board.

The Great North Air Ambulance has been called to a remote farm in County Durham.

Dr Tim Lows and paramedic, Andy Dalton are on board.

Clark Priestley is the pilot.

A 19-year-old woman has suffered a potentially serious riding accident.

When they get there, Steve Brown, a rapid response paramedic,

has already given gas and air to Lauren to help relieve her pain, but she's shivering.

Have we got any blankets or rugs we can chuck over Lauren's upper half?

-Have you got a SAM sling?

-There's clean towels in that bag there.

-OK. I just want to have a quick look at your leg, over here.

-Yeah.

-Are you all right, Lauren?

-Yeah(!)

-My name's Andy.

-Hi!

Lauren's horse, Logan, has fallen on top of her, after jumping over a gate she was trying to open.

He weighs just under half a tonne.

OK, I'm going to start feeling your feet. Can you wiggle your toes?

OK, that's fine, so you've got nice warm feet. Normal pulse.

With a lot of help from her friends, she managed to get back to the stable.

-I'm just going to feel up your leg here. I'm just going to press...

-Ah!

Where does that hurt? Does it hurt you where I'm pressing?

-No, but it feels as though it's shooting up into my hip.

-OK.

Lauren's putting on a brave face, even though her pain seems severe.

Tim gives her some morphine.

It's basically a strong painkiller. It can make you feel a little bit woozy, light-headed, all right?

It should start to take that pain away.

It's beginning to look like Lauren could have a fractured pelvis,

which could cause very serious internal bleeding.

'If it's a significant pelvic fracture, you can literally lose pretty much'

your whole circulating volume into the pelvis.

It's quite a large potential area,

'so the important thing for us to do is minimise any disruption to the pelvis.'

You don't want to cause further bleeding by rolling the patient around, sitting them up, etc.

We'll just immobilise your legs, put this splint on to hold your pelvis nice and steady.

All the time, Andy and Tim chat to Lauren to help her keep her mind off the pain.

Don't you just love horses!?

He's hanging his head in shame. OK, I'm just gently going to squeeze.

Tim straps Lauren into a SAM sling, a special six-inch belt,

that acts as a splint for pelvic fractures.

'What it's designed to do, if there's a fracture opened up in the pelvis,

'it ideally closes that and stabilises it, so that when you're moving the casualty,'

there's less likelihood of disruption to bones in the pelvis.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-They've also tied her feet together.

-A good job you put your toenail varnish on, isn't it?

-I put it on just before!

I'm surprised it's not chipped!

How's that pain feeling now, has that morphine had any affect at all?

-It's quite sore.

-Right, OK. Let's give you more of that before we start rolling you around.

I never do anything by halves when I come off.

What we'll do is give you some anti-sickness stuff as well.

Have you got any pain in your back at all?

A little bit, yeah, but I've got a bad back anyway.

-Have you?

-Yeah.

-What kind of bad back have you got?

Oh, just problems coming off him before.

No pain in your neck or head, or anything?

They're using a scoop stretcher,

which will keep her back and pelvis stable for the move to hospital.

-How's that feeling now? If ten was the worst pain you could ever imagine, and zero was no pain?

-Six.

About six, OK.

Once in the helicopter, Lauren seems to be more comfortable.

Now she can explain in her own words what happened.

He decided to jump a gate with a big ditch the other side, and stones.

He's very clever.

-Is he going for glue now then?

-He's not!

THEY LAUGH

So you still love him, even though he's done this?

Oh, he does it all the time, man. He's an angel.

It'll take just seven minutes to reach Newcastle General Hospital,

which has a specialist trauma unit to deal with serious injuries.

Lauren, they were really worried about you, but you didn't have severe injuries, did you?

No, just a few bruises here and there.

I managed to knock my knees together,

two big bruises either side.

Tell me about this naughty horse,

he was watching the whole thing, wasn't he?

He was. He thought it was brilliant, seeing mother having some nice injuries.

He was like, "Yeah, I got you back for this one."

He was the dark horse with the blaze down his nose, wasn't he?

Tell us what happened, you were trying to get through this gate... Did he try and jump it?

Yeah, I leant over to open it, and he was getting impatient,

leant back, and just launched over the gate.

-And then fell onto top of you?

-Yeah.

-What happened?

-He'd hung his back legs on top of the gate.

Then I landed on a pile of bricks at the other side, he'd landed on top of me.

Then he ran back to his stable.

I guess he was quite sensible. Is that how people knew where you were?

No, I was out with my little sister and a friend at the time.

They were absolutely petrified, because they saw him going to do it.

He's not a small horse, give us a sense of how much he might weigh when he lands on you.

About 450 kilograms.

-Oh, my goodness.

-He's nice and heavy.

He's a big, chunky little thing.

Now, what else has he done, because they took you to hospital,

and they found that you've got a previous injury.

Yeah, a few years ago, I was about 14 years old, having a bit of a school, a bit of a jump in a lesson,

and then he decided to smash me through a fence, and I rolled down the bottom of a hill.

Jumped back up, I was like, "I'm OK," and my riding instructor said, "Get back down now!"

And you'd really hurt yourself then, had you?

No, I didn't realise I'd hurt myself at the time.

-But you had a spine injury?

-Yeah, I had to go and get it checked out.

You still love this horse, don't you?

He's great. He's fab. My mam could disagree with that every day.

And your mum has also, I'm very glad to hear, she banned you from riding for a week

so you could see us, didn't she?

She did, yeah! She said, "There's no chance.

"If you want to go down to do this, then you're not riding."

-Well, I appreciate it. Thank you very much, and good luck with that naughty horse.

-Thank you.

Madness with that mad horse. We've got a very serious story here.

You had a call from somebody who said their 18-month-old was in the water?

Yeah, I had a really hysterical caller on the phone.

Then I briefly heard them say there's an 18-month in the water.

They then passed the call to a passer-by,

and he was trying to understand what she was saying, cos she was absolutely out of control.

-She would be hysterical, wouldn't she?

-Of course, exactly.

He then told me the location, and said there was an 18-month in the water.

So I took this as an 18-month-old baby in the water, as you would.

Then he said it was an 18-month-old dog in the water.

-So I said to him that it wasn't really an ambulance job.

-Well, it isn't, really, is it?

I can believe anyone actually thinks their dog in the water is a problem for the ambulance service.

-Yeah.

-You closed the call down?

Yeah, closed the call down and told my supervisor.

-She said she'll get in touch with coastguard about it.

-Yeah.

-And inform the police, just so they're aware.

-Yeah.

Then you got another call.

Yeah. I got another call through from somebody different, and gave the exact address that we'd just had.

Saying that this gentleman that was on the phone to me originally

had gone into the water to rescue the dog,

and he now needed an ambulance to rescue him from the water.

-So an ambulance was needed in the end.

-And then you have to ring everybody else...

Yeah, and they were already there.

You hear about people going onto the ice and getting into difficulty after their dogs.

-The animals always find a way back.

-Yeah, exactly.

But the people with them just panic, and they want to get help.

-The first person they thought of was 999.

-Extraordinary.

-Claire, thank you, I'll let you get back.

-Thank you.

Isn't that amazing, don't you think?

Last year on Real Rescues,

you may remember a very compelling 999 emergency call to the ambulance control room,

after an 11-year-old boy collapsed at school.

Hamish Mackinnon was having a cardiac arrest.

it's a very rare and hidden condition in someone so young,

and it was only the quick thinking and skill of the call taker,

his teacher, and a parent helper that saved his life.

This is how the call came in.

In the extremely tense minutes that followed, to keep Hamish alive,

Morag Bell had to talk the two adults through the process of resuscitating him.

SINGLE BREATH

Well, Hamish was brought back from the brink,

and was kept alive until the ambulance arrived to rush him to hospital.

He had emergency surgery to fit a special defibrillator that would prevent his heart stopping again.

And a year on, and Hamish has become a bit of a star,

and had been invited to open the new Edinburgh Ambulance Control Room.

Ahead of the ceremony, Hamish, his family and Morag are about to meet up for the very first time.

Finally, they have the opportunity to talk about the day that had such an impact on their lives.

I have always hoped that I would get the chance to meet Hamish,

but obviously it's a difficult circumstance anyway.

It's a child, and stuff like that.

I always did hope that I would get the chance.

-Hello.

-Hello.

I'm going to cry. Come in.

-Pleased to meet you.

-It's lovely to see you.

Hello, Hamish, how are you?

-Good, getting there. Thanks.

-These are for you.

Come through.

Hamish is back at school and doing well.

However, his treatment resulted in an infection in his right leg, but it's healing and will recover.

-It's much better. I don't need the wheelchair any more.

-Good.

On crutches is much better.

It was only after hearing the recording of the emergency call that Hamish's parents, Tina and Donald,

realised exactly how Morag helped to save their son's life.

We had no idea, no comprehension of how important it is what you do.

You were incredibly calm on the phone.

It was a very difficult call, but it was an easy call, because,

mostly, when you ask people to check, tell how often they're breathing, they don't listen.

They say, "They're breathing, there's nothing wrong."

So as far as that goes it was easy, because the teacher did exactly as she was asked.

Well, there he is.

No damage. Well, a wee bit on his leg. Nothing else.

Once I got used to hospital it wasn't that bad,

just doing physio every day. It was OK, wasn't it?

THEY LAUGH

Yeah, but I was coping with it.

To be sitting here today and seeing Hamish like he is is amazing, after everything that happened that day.

I just feel I was just doing my job that day.

Yeah, well, we're very glad it was you doing that job.

Even the fact that you were just doing your job is pretty amazing in itself.

Thank you, Hamish.

That's a nice thing to say.

Thank you very much for this.

I'm not going to read it in case I cry.

I'll save it for home!

It'll never begin to cover it.

I'm glad you're doing so well.

Thank you.

Thank you for my lovely orchid.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

No crying. We've done enough crying now.

I won't be able to see driving home!

-Thanks.

-You're welcome.

-Thanks.

-You're very welcome.

That was lovely.

'Very rewarding to see Hamish as fit and healthy as he is.

'I was so glad I was there to help him that day.'

That's great that she got to meet Hamish.

Lots of these people, they talk to people in emergencies,

they never know what's happened, the call takers.

What have we learnt, if you get through the Blitz you'll get through anything?

-If you have a crush on your horse it might crush you.

-Yes! And don't follow your dog into the water.

-Yeah. We'll see you for more Real Rescue soon.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.

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