Episode 13 Helicopter Heroes

When you're with someone that's seriously injured,

every minute you wait for medical aid feels like an hour,

so a helicopter can be one of the most beautiful sights in the world.

This is the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and their business is saving lives.

From the dales to the big cities of Leeds and Sheffield,

patients in the UK's biggest county are ten minutes from a hospital, thanks to this 150mph life-saver.

And every day brings a new life or death emergency for its paramedics.

Two helicopters, four paramedics, five million patients!

Today on Helicopter Heroes...

There's a struggle for survival as a couple fall into a canal.

Patients can become hypothermic.

A horse throws its rider and the paramedics fear she could be paralysed.

Where in your spine does it hurt?

There's a miraculous escape for a farm worker in a dramatic road accident.

He'd been ejected and thrown.

And a pensioner's downhill run on her grandchildren's sledge ends in pain.

It's amazing how a simple mistake can put you in a situation where your life is in danger.

That's especially true when you're near deep water.

Boating enthusiasts turn out whatever the weather,

but Gary Horton and Bronwyn Joseph have an even better reason for wanting to get back on the water.

Bronwyn has just finished hospital treatment. It's their first chance to enjoy a trip on their cruiser.

At Leeds-Bradford Airport, the snow blowers are clearing the runways.

Helimed 99 is about to get a call as Gary and Bronwyn's day out ends in a life-threatening accident.

-'Ambulance Emergency?

-I'm the lock-keeper. Two boaters have fallen in the water.

'They've been in for 20 minutes. They're both frozen and the lady is a cancer sufferer.'

Helimed 99 is on the way.

We don't know exactly what's happened, but we've had a very cold night.

We've got snow on the ground.

Patients quickly can become hypothermic.

We need to be there as quick as possible.

Lee and the crew don't know how desperately they're needed.

Bronwyn was in hospital to have chemotherapy for cancer.

Bronwyn tried to step on to the boat.

The gap was getting wider and I asked her to step back,

but she couldn't step back and she slipped straight in.

I jumped in after her and went straight under, fully clothed.

Helimed 99 is also battling the elements.

The weather is closing in.

Pilot Chris Attrill has to plan a route around the snow.

-There's a big snow shower in front of us, so I'll go round to the left and come round behind.

-Right, OK.

In the icy canal, Gary and Bronwyn are fighting for their lives.

I told Bronwyn to get hold of me and she got round my neck and I was trying to tread water.

Although the couple are together and both alive,

the cold has sapped all their strength and they have no energy left to pull themselves out.

I couldn't get out. I had no chance.

There was nothing to put your feet on to jump up. I had no strength.

And I couldn't let go of Bronwyn.

The weather is making it hard to find Gary and Bronwyn.

Snow has reduced visibility to a few hundred metres but Chris has a plan.

-What I'm going to do is pick up the lock and follow that down.

-OK.

Right, we're just approaching the 62 overpass on the canal.

-Lee?

-It should be about 200 metres beyond that.

Gary and Bronwyn have been in the water for 20 minutes and they can't get out.

Gary knows he must do something or they'll both perish.

It was my hardest decision ever. I told Bronwyn I'd have to go.

I left her wedged between the new piles on the canal bank.

Gary knows his only chance of getting Bronwyn out alive

is if he can get out and haul her up the side of the bank.

All the time I was thinking she wouldn't be able to hold on.

But in the freezing conditions, exhaustion gets the better of him.

It got to t'stage where I just had my head above water like that.

So I just thought, "This is what it's like to die."

I just lay back in the water and I was floating there for...it must have been up to maybe 15 minutes.

Coming up on Helicopter Heroes, Helimed 99 reaches the canal,

-but where are the missing couple?

-This side or the other side?

-There is a serious road accident and the driver of a tractor is badly injured.

-Don't bend your leg.

The team brave spring snowstorms to rescue an elderly sightseer.

If it takes longer than two or three minutes, we'll have to leave her.

A great part of being a flying paramedic is the scenery.

From 1,000 feet up, you get a view of Yorkshire's stunning dales and moors,

but accidents can and do happen in the prettiest places.

At a stable yard high in the Pennines, the rider of this horse has been thrown to the ground.

Local paramedics have diagnosed a potentially serious injury to her spine

and Helimed 99 is on the way.

She's up in the dales and the land crew would be a long time

on windy, bumpy country roads.

If she has a C-spine injury, she wants to be flat and smooth.

We can give her the smoothest ride possible and not aggravate any injury.

-That's where Crow Tree Farm is. It's the one on the nose?

-The one with all the caravans?

-Yeah.

Helicopters terrify some horses.

Pilot Steve Cobb is well aware they can present a serious danger to themselves and his helicopter.

Two horses in this field at the side, running away.

The owners of the stables have had the presence of mind to put away their animals.

Only minutes ago, horses were grazing in the paddock Steve's about to turn into a helipad.

-Came off her horse.

-Yeah.

Moved herself into a sitting position.

-If you touch her arms, she says it just feels like tingling.

-Yeah.

Caroline Wainwright is a very experienced horsewoman.

She was schooling her horse when she was thrown. She landed in sand, but she seriously injured her back.

Where exactly in your spine does it hurt? The top, middle or bottom?

-From the bottom of my head down.

-All the way down?

-About halfway.

-About halfway down.

Caroline's symptoms may sound innocent enough,

but to Pat Greaken, they sound close to the sensations felt by people who have damaged their spinal cords.

Spinal injuries can be made much worse by even slight movements.

Pat and Pete Vallance now immobilise Caroline.

But they must lie her down flat. It could be a painful process.

-My arms are sore.

-Where are they hurting? All over?

-Yeah.

-OK, my love. Just try and relax.

Outside, Steve Cobb is still concerned about the local livestock.

He'll have to calculate his take-off to avoid horses and a herd of cows.

If you come anywhere near a horse, they'll run away and won't come back.

Cows run away, then come back and start eating things, poking their head in the helicopter.

Caroline knows she's seriously hurt, but the paramedics aren't sharing their concerns with her.

Feels like she has an obstruction in t'throat which indicates a spine injury.

Riding is Caroline's passion and part of the family business.

All clear as far as I can see, Steve.

It could be a long time before she climbs in the saddle again.

It's the sort of injury you'd expect with a horsing accident.

Doctors and radiographers at Lancaster's Royal Infirmary A&E are on standby.

It's the best place for Caroline's injury. She's about to find out how badly she's hurt her back.

Coming up, Caroline arrives at hospital for X-rays on her back. What will they reveal?

The crew were concerned cos she'd got strange sensations in her arm as well as tenderness in her neck.

The search continues for a couple missing in an icy canal.

-Can we do an orbit?

-Yeah, will do.

Freak weather leads to a 999 call from Yorkshire's Daffodil Valley.

It's more the shortness of breath that's bothering her.

Farmers are amongst the Air Ambulance's biggest supporters.

If anything serious happens in the countryside, a helicopter will probably come to the rescue.

On a road in the Yorkshire Dales, there's been a freak accident.

The driver of this vintage tractor has been thrown the width of the road after collision with a lorry.

It's a miracle James Nelson has survived, but he's sustained very serious injuries.

At Air Ambulance HQ, the crew of Helimed 98 have reported for work.

It's just to the west of Skipton.

But they're already preparing to fly to James' aid.

We're off early this morning. We're on our way to just west of Skipton. We believe it to be West Marton.

A lorry versus a tractor, a trailer. There are reports of a lot of blood and a head injury.

With a top speed of 150mph, Helimed 98 get Pat and Sammy to the scene in just ten minutes.

Oh, my God!

Wow, that is a destruction!

'A tractor versus a lorry, big significant vehicles...'

As we flew over, we could see where the tractor had rolled over.

The patient was in the grass verge.

He'd been ejected and thrown. That's significant for the human body.

James has multiple injuries and is a long way from the trauma unit he desperately needs.

He's escaped death twice. After being thrown from his seat, passing vehicles narrowly avoided him.

-Does that cause you any pain when you took a deep breath?

-Just my leg.

-Just your legs, not your chest?

James is suffering from severe pelvic injuries and is bleeding from a head wound.

His vintage tractor had none of the safety aids of modern vehicles, but that may have saved him.

By being thrown clear, he wasn't hit by the flying wreckage of the trailer he was towing.

-Ready, steady, roll.

-Aagh!

James, don't bend your legs, pet.

James is in agony, but Pat and Sammy have to get him on to his back and on to a spinal board

before they risk moving him.

-Ready, steady, roll.

-Aagh!

That's it, James.

James' leg is causing him a lot of pain.

-What's hurting now? Is that because of moving...?

-It's my legs.

-SCREAMS OF PAIN

-James, try and relax.

Before he's flown to hospital, he'll need pain-killing drugs.

-Oh, my legs!

-Can we have some morphine, Sam?

-Morphine...

-Do something!

James is desperate, but his size means he needs a huge dose of morphine.

James, as far as patients go, was quite a large man.

I gave him half of my maximum dose of morphine and it didn't really touch him.

I gave him the full dose of morphine and he was still in a lot of pain.

Despite James' discomfort, Pat has to strap him securely to the spinal board.

It's the only way to make sure he isn't injured when they move him.

We'll see if we can get a strap round his ankles.

With a lot of effort, James is ready to fly.

James, I'm Sammy. We're gonna take you to the helicopter now, OK?

But the unique problems of James' accident aren't over yet.

There's an unexpected obstacle between the paramedics and the helicopter.

On the way to the accident scene, Sammy and Pat hardly even noticed the cattle grid.

But with James on the stretcher, it's a major obstacle.

Maybe if we go almost under the tree and down that way, rather than through this mud.

James, we're gonna lift you to the aircraft.

There's no other option and everyone chips in to carry James the last few yards to Helimed 98.

Airedale Hospital is just five minutes away by air.

It's the start of a long road to recovery for James

and the end of an ordeal for his parents who stumbled on the crash minutes after it happened.

We tried James on his mobile phone - no reply.

We tried him a second and third time,

then who was working with him picked up the phone

and said James had been badly hurt.

The next thing we knew was when the Air Ambulance arrived and James was being brought here.

We came here just when he arrived.

James has few memories of the accident.

No, just picking up some sirens. And my tractor. That's the last thing I can remember.

I had broken my hip.

I had done quite a lot of damage to my spine.

I had done some damage to my bones up here. And I had virtually destroyed this thumb.

James' tractor was more than 40 years old with no roll bars or protective cab.

But his family feel that being thrown clear probably saved him.

If he had been in a modern tractor, I think he would have been killed.

He was thrown clear. The thing just concertinaed. I haven't seen it. I gather it's horrid.

James has already endured 12 hours of surgery, but one day, he hopes to be behind the wheel again.

Coming up, a horsewoman has been flown to hospital with a suspected broken back. Will she ride again?

You're passionate about it, but you want to be able to walk about.

And a young driver is caught out by unseasonal snow...in April.

If you've never had to respond to a real life or death emergency,

it's difficult to understand how people like paramedics stay calm and in control.

But sometimes they're faced with situations

that force them into taking calculated risks, especially with the weather.

Helimed 99 is battling its way through terrible weather conditions to get to a set of locks near Selby.

We've had a very cold night. We've got snow on the ground.

Patients can become hypothermic.

Gary Horton and Bronwyn Joseph have been in the water for 30 minutes. They can't get out.

Bronwyn has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. She has no strength left.

Gary secured her to a metal pile at the canal side while he tried to get to the lock.

But the icy water and exhaustion has taken its toll and he's passed out.

I just thought I were dead.

Helimed 99 is circling overhead. They've located the locks, but not the patients.

-Any idea which side? This side or the other side?

-Can we do an orbit?

-Yeah, will do.

In the cold water, Bronwyn's cries for help have brought Gary back to consciousness.

I could hear Bronwyn shouting, "Help!"

If you put your head under t'water in t'bath, you can still hear noises outside and it were just like that.

I sort of pulled myself up and I remember thinking, "I've done it!"

Helimed 99 lands in a field next to the lock.

Gary has pulled Bronwyn out and she's been found by the lock-keeper and his wife.

They've taken her into the warmth of the lock control room.

She's undergoing chemo, she's in her fourth session at the moment.

She's got a sarcoma cancer, problems with her pelvis and her back.

She is so cold, she is unable to speak.

A land ambulance crew and other boaters have joined in to help try and get Bronwyn warm.

-Just tell me how she ended up in the water.

-I'm the lock-keeper here.

I was clearing snow and I heard some screams and it was Bronwyn. She'd climbed out and she lay over there.

I've never seen anyone as cold.

At the beginning, it was her that shouted, she could still speak.

She told me where her boyfriend Gary was.

But as she started warming up, she said that... She couldn't speak any more.

Afterwards, she just became numb.

Everyone uses their own body heat to warm her up, but now she needs to be moved to the helicopter.

-I'm freezing.

-You're gonna be flying with us.

-Yeah.

-I know you're cold, but you're gonna be flying with us.

Tony checks on Gary who has been taken to the land ambulance.

We've decided we're gonna fly the lady who is the worst medically.

The crew will take the gent.

By the time we could get another aircraft here, they could get there by land just as quick.

'I must have started warming up a lot quicker. I'm a lot bigger than Bronwyn.

'She must have been frozen to t'core.'

I just wanted her to be OK. I knew I'd come round.

Knowing that the Air Ambulance could take her to hospital quickly,

it were a relief, definitely.

-She's not in the clothes that she fell in with?

-No.

Great. Lay towards me, sweetheart. Lay towards me.

We'll guide you. Legs up.

Bronwyn, already weak from chemotherapy, is struggling to stay conscious.

Phil the lock-keeper normally has a quiet job. Not today.

I thought it were kids playing in t'field. I could hear somebody screaming.

I saw Bronwyn. We carried her up there cos it's the warmest place.

Bronwyn is hanging on to life. She is still very cold.

Helimed 99 has a thermal sleeping bag on board to help transfer patients with hypothermia.

They're on their way to Pinderfields Hospital.

It's a five-minute flight.

Lee's job is to look after Bronwyn on the last stage of her ordeal.

He's amazed at her will to live.

They've done the best thing in getting all the wet clothes off her.

I wonder what her temperature actually is?

Bronwyn is cold, frail and weak. She weighs just seven stone.

Her body temperature is dangerously low. Her only chance of surviving is here in hospital.

Helimed 99 has given her that chance.

Coming up, can doctors raise Bronwyn's temperature before she has serious complications?

All right, sweetheart. OK...

When snow falls, everyone wants to enjoy the fun, but for one pensioner it's ended in a nasty accident.

There are no X-ray machines on the Helimed aircraft,

so paramedics use their experience to decide what's wrong with their patients and rarely make a mistake.

Helimed 99 has been scrambled to a remote farm tucked away in the dales, miles from the nearest town.

Caroline Wainwright was horse-jumping when it stumbled and she fell on to her head.

The land and air ambulance paramedics had to immobilise Caroline's spine

to reduce the risk of further damage to her back.

She has all the symptoms of a spinal injury that could leave her paralysed.

She had strange sensations in her arm and tenderness in her neck.

We're gonna transport her as though she's got a possible C-spine injury.

When Caroline touched down at Lancaster General Hospital,

she was the only one unaware of how serious her injuries were.

Six weeks later, back at Melling Dub Farm, Caroline isn't back at work,

but she is able to catch up with her horses under the watchful eye of her mum.

The paramedics were right. She did have a spinal injury.

Two vertebrae in my neck had gone together and they had smashed

and there was one down my back that was damaged as well.

Because they were so badly damaged, they had to operate on them.

I was operated on within six days and they put a 19-centimetre titanium strip down my spine.

And then they've wired my spine and the titanium strip together.

Then obviously, I've got this brace to keep me nice and still while it gets a chance to heal.

For Caroline, giving up her horses wasn't an option. They mean the world to her.

It's a passion, a hobby and a job full-time, seven days a week,

365 days a year. Yeah, we do it all the time.

It's just something you get into.

We like the thrill of it and the competing aspect of it, bringing on the horses and seeing them improve.

Surprisingly, despite Caroline's close call, she hasn't been deterred from getting back into the saddle.

If I get told it's silly to ride again, then I won't do it.

But if I can ride without making things worse and I physically feel I can do it, then I will do it.

I'm not gonna be stupid. You're passionate about it, but you want to be able to walk about.

For Caroline and other people who live in the Yorkshire Dales, the Air Ambulance is vital.

They were super. They were absolutely great. How would I have got to Lancaster in a road ambulance?

When they arrived and you thought of having to go in a road ambulance, they were a godsend.

You never got panicking. It was over so quickly.

It wasn't a good experience I had because I had a fall,

but it made the experience a lot more manageable, I would say, definitely.

Now the Air Ambulance has done its job, all that Caroline can do is wait to see if her back gets better.

Coming up on Helicopter Heroes, a cancer patient is fighting for her life after falling in a canal.

Bank holidays mean a few days off for most of us,

but for the flying paramedics, it can mean an increased workload.

Oh, my God, look what I found!

It's Easter, the first bank holiday of the year,

and the paramedics are straining the waistbands of their flying suits.

The people of Yorkshire are jetting off to the sun by the planeload.

But this is no ordinary Easter.

Just as everyone's expecting spring, they get another helping of winter.

And today, Helimed 99 has been scrambled to the snowy landscape of the Pennines

where the weather's been a factor in a serious road accident.

It's Easter Sunday. People are moving about, seeing families.

Near the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire, a car has skidded.

It's a remote area and three people need hospital treatment.

All three have been immobilised with queried spinal injuries.

Landing in snow is difficult and pilot Chris Attrill approaches the scene slowly.

The ambulance is behind us, so it must be up this section of road.

-Let's crawl along until we find it.

-Yeah, that's cool.

-Shall we put it on the track to the farm?

-Yeah, OK.

-Straight on the track, Chris.

-There's a little signpost behind us.

-Grand.

It's easy to be blinded by a blizzard kicked up by the rotors,

but luckily, it's just a thin covering of snow today.

We've got a male who's been in the vehicle that's rolled over, rear seat passenger.

Helimed 99's patient is kept warm in a land ambulance.

The roads are treacherous and with a suspected spinal injury,

a road journey could be long and hazardous for the patient.

A rigid stretcher will keep his spine straight during the flight.

The guy boarded with neck pain, if we take him...

With the weather as it is, a land ambulance may not even get through to the nearest emergency unit.

Because of the quality with flying, it's not as bumpy. You can cause damage to people with neck pain.

We'll fly him to hospital in Manchester.

He's happy about that and we'll get him there as quick as we can.

Within minutes, he was checked out by doctors in hospital,

but despite being thrown around in a rolling car, his injuries didn't turn out to be serious.

In the North York Moors, there's a natural spectacle which draws thousands of trippers most Easters.

Daffodil Valley is a popular attraction,

but looking at the flowers rarely involves braving temperatures down to freezing.

Joyce Thomas was walking with her family when overcome by the cold.

Ground paramedics have trekked more than a mile to reach her.

Helimed 99 pilot Steve Cobb is not having much fun either.

You usually expect bad weather at Easter, but this one is particularly bad. It's been cold, a lot of snow.

We've just gone through a snowstorm and I can see ahead of us a large, wide-ranging storm.

That's the problem.

The moors are blanketed by snowstorms. They blind the crew and can choke the engines' air intakes.

There's a load of people down here at...three o'clock.

-In a green jacket at three o'clock.

-Got 'em.

-Looks to be flat banking.

-We're gonna get stuck here, aren't we?

-That's if it don't clear.

Steve's worried. Touching down in Farndale, one of the highest valleys in the North York Moors,

means Helimed 99 could be trapped under yet another snowstorm.

We've got three or four minutes.

I bet we haven't got that. This is a "down and away".

-What do you think, Steve? About two minutes?

-Just keep it running.

If it's gonna take longer than three minutes, we'll have to leave her.

The crew must race the weather. Such is the need for speed, Steve will leave the rotors running.

-It's got to be up and in and off or we'll get stuck.

-Right.

They've walked a mile or so this morning.

They got to about the last gate and she was short of breath, dizzy.

-No chest pain.

-Is there any reason that we can't manhandle her physically on to our stretcher?

-Once that comes in, we ain't going anywhere.

-Let's go, let's go.

Joyce is 70. Normally, she'd take this walk in her stride.

But this is no ordinary Easter and the cold has badly affected her.

She's been on a day trip from Hull with her son and grandchildren.

No-one expected the weather to turn so cold, so suddenly.

In a usual spring, this would have been a pleasant stroll through a meadow to see the flowers.

She's been on 100% oxygen...

For Joyce, it's turned into an ordeal in the snow and mud.

If Joyce is to reach hospital in Scarborough 20 miles away, they must take off within minutes.

With seconds to spare, Helimed 99 lifts off.

At 150mph, they quickly leave the snow showers behind.

Darren thinks about his colleagues on the ground.

I feel sorry for the ambulance crew.

They've come a fair distance in with what equipment they could carry.

Then they've realised they've got to extricate her from there. It's a dilemma really.

If we'd been stuck in the air base because of the weather, they'd have had to get her out of there somehow.

When Helimed 99 makes it to Scarborough, the sun is shining.

Is it Mrs Thomas? How do you feel now, Mrs Thomas?

-Not too bad.

-We had to get out of there as quickly as we could because of the snow.

-We might have been stuck there. Do you know where you are?

-No.

Scarborough. You've managed a trip to the seaside too!

-I wanted to see the daffodils.

-We found one for you.

The problem there was waiting for the crew to come back.

You're thinking, "Come on," as you watch the snow come in behind them.

It worked out quite well. It's a glorious day in Scarborough.

Joyce stays in hospital for three days and is released, none the worse for her ordeal,

but with a new respect for the weather.

-That's that road there.

-She's not the only pensioner in trouble this chilly Easter.

-It's there.

-Is it a fall?

-Sledging accident.

Oh, is it? Nice one.

On the hills outside Hull, snow has turned the slopes into a playground

and one lady has found that falling off your sledge isn't quite as funny if your teens are a distant memory.

Elaine Walker is 60. She was on a bank holiday outing with her daughter and grandchildren

when she decided to try sledging for herself.

But the hills on the edge of the rolling Yorkshire roads are steep and slippery.

My mum hit a bit of a dip and flew off, jarred her hip, and then landed in the snow, and couldn't move.

A high-speed crash has left Elaine in severe pain.

A ground ambulance crew fear it may be serious, so called in Helimed 99 to fly Elaine to hospital.

This could be a tricky mission.

People get into the hilly areas where there's sledging and it can be difficult for crews to get to them.

So with the helicopter, we can get close by and just reduce the risk for everybody

and get the patient to where they need to be.

-Just an update, it's a 60-year-old female.

-60? Sledging?!

-Yeah.

We're definitely needed, but we knew that anyway.

How heavy?

Elaine prides herself on keeping up with her grandkids, but she probably won't be trying tobogganing again.

-Shall we sledge you across?

-Oh, lovely!

-We'll just take you straight to Hull.

-That's fine.

-We need to get that checked out.

-We explained all that.

-Thanks, yeah.

She's got pain in her left hip.

If she's lucky, she's probably just knocked it, no great injuries.

But she's come down quite a slope, so there is potential for a fracture there, which is a serious injury.

So we'll treat it as such, get it checked out at hospital and see if she has any real damage.

One, two, three...

Thankfully, her injuries prove to be minor and she's soon back on her feet.

For Helimed 99's crew, it's been a remarkable bank holiday

and one their three patients are unlikely to forget.

All three of our patients are back on their feet

and hoping the next bank holiday spoilt by snow is Christmas!

Flying through the air at three miles a minute means air ambulances can save lives with sheer speed.

But for one patient, time is running out. Cancer patient Bronwyn had been in the canal for over 30 minutes.

Her partner Gary dived in to save her and eventually got her out.

She crawled to the lock control tower and raised the alarm.

Helimed 99 battled through the snow to get to their patients.

Bronwyn, already weak through her chemotherapy, now has hypothermia.

Helimed 99 takes just four minutes to get her to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.

Her body temperature is dangerously low. Air Ambulance paramedic Lee Davison is still with her.

All right, sweetheart. OK...

We've flown this lady, 45-year-old female, and she was in a boat which has been involved in an accident.

I Thermoscanned her. She was low.

She was below 34. And she had no pulse when I tried to feel it.

Bronwyn's partner Gary is brought in to the same room.

He is recovering quickly from his ordeal.

When I got in, I got hold of her OK, but I couldn't get her out.

It was about three foot above the water level.

When we got to hospital, they took us into the Resus Room and Bronwyn was already in there.

I'd come in the ambulance. She were really poorly and white and so cold.

Then they drew t'curtains across. She'd been frozen to t'core.

Bronwyn's body is in shock. Her body temperature is dangerously low.

The hospital use a special inflatable blanket full of warm air.

Her mother and son are at her bedside.

Bronwyn, we're gonna leave you now. These good guys'll look after you.

-OK.

-All right?

-Thank you so much.

-You're welcome. You've done well.

-And you.

-All right, OK.

Bronwyn spent ten days in hospital.

She had some scans done and another tumour was discovered.

Amazingly, just three weeks later, she's back on her boat.

She is still undergoing chemo and radiotherapy, but Bronwyn is determined to live life to the full.

Getting back on a boat today after an accident that were the worst thing I've done.

-I just wanted to get rid of t'boat.

-You get back on after you fall off a horse. I did that when I was 7!

Lock-keeper Phil Schofield and his wife Ulrika discovered the couple after they'd got out of the water.

-Hello there.

-Hello. Oh, it's so good to see you.

'To see her today was just absolutely fantastic.

'She just looked so well. It was brilliant.'

I can remember saying, "Can you please take me in your house cos I'm cold?"

-We put both radiators on full.

-Yeah.

-And you were saying, "Sit me down." I said, "You are sat down."

Then you said, "I want to stand up."

'I knew there was something not right with her.'

I suspected it was cancer because she had no hair.

But I only found out after her friends arrived and told me she had cancer and how bad it was.

I thought, "Lass, you are amazing. Absolutely amazing."

-And I said, "God, what's happened, love?"

-I can't remember.

-I said, "You've been in."

-Yeah.

-You could still talk then.

'Considering what she's going through, besides what's happened,'

she's incredible.

She's an example to us all, I think. She's brilliant.

Not surprisingly, Gary and Bronwyn wear life jackets these days.

We'll always wear 'em, won't we?

I'll always remember that, the feeling I had when I had no control over myself in t'water.

And this remarkable couple are determined to make the most of their time together.

In the back of my mind, you think, "There's people a lot worse off than you."

You just don't know what's round t'corner.

Another thing in life you get over.

And now she wants to return to the same spot where she and Gary so nearly lost their lives.

I were just frightened I were gonna fall back in.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah, I'm fine.

It's quite upsetting coming back to where I positioned myself for about 30 minutes.

I remember being really, really cold in that water

and thinking, "I'll never get warm, I'll never get out of here."

Then I thought, "I've got to get out somehow. Whether somebody comes and helps us out, I will get out."

And it were your shouting that woke me up.

It must have woken me up.

I can remember turning round and seeing you walking towards me.

I don't give up life quick. You know, what's going on, I won't give up.

It'll be a good struggle.

And I'll fight it all the way.

I thought, "I'll get out. He'll get help. He'll be there for me," which he always is. And he did.

Then we were taken over there, the Air Ambulance came and...

Saved our lives. And here we are today.

Here we are today, yeah.

Sadly, Bronwyn died of cancer shortly after that was filmed,

but Gary says their amazing escape meant they had a few more precious weeks together.

When we come back, the crew are scrambled to one of their own.

A local medic is fighting for his life after a car crash.

A farmer's wife raises thousands for flying paramedics and now her son is glad she did.

He's come through the roof.

-A teenager is in a collision with a car.

-The windscreen applied significant force to the head.

And what happens when this goes wrong.

Straighten your leg out. Relax your thigh.

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2008

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