Episode 14 Helicopter Heroes

When you're critically ill or seriously injured, every minute you wait for aid feels like an hour.

This is why a helicopter like this 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,

patients in the UK's biggest county are only 10 minutes from hospital

thanks to this 150-mile-an-hour lifesaver.

Every day brings a new emergency for its team of flying paramedics.

Two helicopters, four paramedics, five million patients.

Today the crew are scrambled to one of their own.

A local medic is fighting for his life.

Get him out of the car.

A farmer's wife raises thousands for flying paramedics.

Now her son's glad she did.

He's come through the roof.

A teenager fights for her life after a collision.

She's had significant force to the head.

-And what happens when this goes wrong.

-Straighten your leg out for me.

Like all of that have worked in the emergency services,

paramedics often have to put their feelings to one side to do the job.

Sometimes they can't help but get emotionally involved with a patient.

Heli Med 99 is on its way to North Yorkshire where there's a major emergency.

In a quiet village outside Pickering a small car has been involved in a serious accident.

Two passengers had a lucky escape and squeezed out of the car,

but the driver's still inside and fighting for his life.

We are en route to this detail. We've got a running time of about one-three minutes, over.

Back at the scene, the emergency services are arriving in force

and will soon be joined by not one helicopter,

but two.

They've dispatched us and the nearest air ambulance.

So there will be two air ambulances.

Speed is of the essence, to get there as quickly as possible.

They'll get the best chance when we get there.

With the information that two patients are still injured, the Great North air ambulance

has also been dispatched.

It's something that isn't a regular thing that happens,

but obviously, like any ambulance services, you help each other out when it's required.

With two helicopters heading for the same small village,

pilot Steve has to contact Heli Med 63's pilot to co-ordinate the landing.

63 are talking on the radio.

-On the ambulance radio?

-Yeah. I can hear them.

Heli Med 63 from Heli Med 99.

But there's no reply from Heli Med 63.

Steve knows they will emerge from the gloom at the same time

and it's an anxious wait.

-Just to confirm that is 123, isn't it?

-Er, yeah.

Keep a good lookout in case we get there at the same time.

Finally, just two minutes from the scene, Heli Med 63's pilot makes contact with Steve.

Yeah, where are you?

'We're clear, we're fine.

'I guess we'll be appearing somewhere to your left.'

Heli Med 63's pilot Matt Niven is well known to the crew of 99 as he often flies with them,

but Steve and Matt must make sure they know exactly where each other is located.

'We're about four miles south. We'll be to your left.'

Their plan works perfectly and Heli Med 63 safely glides into view.

-We'll let you land first.

-'OK, we'll go to the right-hand side of the field there.'

Steve's done his job. It's now time for Lee and Tony to do theirs.

-Hi! You OK?

-We've got one patient with an RSI in the car.

-These two were in the car as well.

-The driver's called Richard. He's a part-time community medic

trained by the Ambulance Service, but now he needs medical aid. Quickly.

I just want him out the car and in the clear.

The patient in the car is trapped. They're going to have to do a Rapid Sequence Induction,

which is a way to secure the airway and put him to sleep.

Richard's life is now in the hands of a skilled team of medics

who are about to turn a field into a makeshift operating theatre.

Coming up on Helicopter Heroes: the battle to get the victims to hospital intensifies.

They're putting the patient to sleep.

Heli Med 99 touches down in a pit village to rescue an injured teenager.

As she crossed the road, the car's hit her.

And what happened when a mountain biker tried to capture his jump on camera.

Tens of thousands of people every year put their hands in their pockets to keep these flying.

Maybe some of them think one day they may need them.

Sometimes that day comes sooner than they think.

Jenny Rooke owes her life to the air ambulance.

She was flown to hospital after a serious fall from a horse.

Since then she's become one of the charity's biggest fundraisers.

It is a lifesaver in the countryside

with the roads and rural areas.

I'm so grateful.

Every year she helps organise a massive tractor rally through the North Yorkshire countryside.

It raises thousands of pounds to keep the air ambulance flying, which husband Mark is passionate about.

It's so vital for people to support it in whatever form

to keep it going. It's just a must.

But they couldn't have imagined that just weeks after this year's fundraiser,

their own family would once again need the crew of Heli Med 99.

At her home in Beadlam Grange, Jenny's 20-year-old son is in agony.

He's just fallen 20 feet through the roof of their barn. A land ambulance crew treats him,

but his pain is so severe they've called in Heli Med 99.

The crew soon realise this is a familiar address.

-It's where we do the tractor pull.

-That's why I've heard of it before!

Beadlam Grange is high on the North York Moors,

but just a short flight for Sammy Wills and Tony Wilkes.

Did you get that, Sammy? 20-year-old male, fallen through the roof.

There is a crew on scene. We'll give him morphine if he can have it.

But even before they get there, cloudal rain is having an impact.

-The weather's not just a problem outside.

-Oh, look!

Start bailing out(!)

-We're going to Beadlam Grange?

-That's that one.

-Left here.

Tim Taylor used to fly combat helicopters for the army

-and he doesn't hang about when choosing a landing site.

-I'm going down.

But today it's easy. It's just a few weeks since he landed here for the fundraiser

and now he's back to take one of them to hospital.

-You all right?

-A 20-year-old male.

-He was on the roof of the barn and has fallen through, landing awkwardly.

-Right.

He's got a fractured femur on the left. He was in a lot of pain, but is a lot better now in traction.

OK. You all right?

I'm feeling better.

Peter and his dad were working together on the roof when suddenly he disappeared through a skylight.

He's come through the roof. They were both cleaning gutters out.

I think Peter stepped back onto the clear bit and he's come down...about 18 feet.

Peter fell into a store full of farming equipment. He was lucky he landed on his feet

and his fall was broken by a pile of waste wood.

We'll put a collar round your neck. When your leg hurts, it's hard to work out if your back does as well.

-Back right shoulder.

-Right, OK. All right, then.

-Try and relax.

-It's just...

-It's all right. Straighten your arm out and we'll put a needle in.

Peter's fractured his femur, the biggest bone in his body.

Sammy's also concerned Peter may have injured his spine.

Peter, open your eyes. Seriously, don't wiggle your head around, OK? Keep all in a straight line.

-All right. You stay still.

-Sammy and Tony rarely know the patients they're treating,

but sharing their fears about Peter's back with the family

could do more harm than good.

Coming up: the race is on to get Peter to hospital

and an x-ray to reveal the extent of his injuries.

Two air ambulances are scrambled to an accident on one of Yorkshire's busiest routes to the coast.

And a water-skier is in agony after a jump goes wrong.

Communities don't come much more close-knit than Yorkshire's pit villages.

For more than a century, people have relied on each other to get through very tough times,

but that can often have a downside.

Dozens of people have rushed out in Thurnscoe after a 13-year-old girl was knocked down by a car,

getting in the way of the emergency services. The vehicle's windscreen is evidence of the impact's force.

This was caused by the girl's head.

We were told she was initially conscious and now she isn't.

She's lost quite a lot of blood.

It's rare for Heli Med 99 to be called into a housing estate.

It's very difficult to find a landing site and the risks are greater close to houses and gardens,

-but fortunately for the crew there's a field close by.

-Will we get a stretcher through?

Ground paramedics are on the scene, but their patient needs surgery quickly.

The girl's also lying in the middle of a busy street with dozens of onlookers.

Although distressing, her screams are a good sign. They mean she's conscious and her airway is clear.

She's a 13-year-old girl. She came out and a car's hit her.

Gemma Gadd was crossing the road outside her home when it happened.

Dr Andy Pountney is all too aware of the risks with head trauma.

She appears to have significant injuries. She bullseyed the windscreen with her head.

She's very agitated and combative. She's unconscious to all intents and purposes. We'll put her to sleep.

That allows us to control her breathing and protect her brain. We'll fly to Sheffield Children's.

No, no, no!

This is a tough neighbourhood and feelings are running high. The medics don't feel entirely welcome.

-Move away.

-Crowds of local kids want to see the chopper,

and pilot Tim asks for a police presence to protect him. One thoughtless act could ground them

and rob Gemma of her best chance of survival.

Gemma's mum is terrified. She knows her daughter is very seriously hurt.

Her life is in real danger and Dr Andy knows it, too.

Anything you don't need, we'll take for stabilisation.

If she's to fly, he must take control of her breathing.

-OK, 7.5 mils of that big one, please.

-7.5.

-All right. You're going off to sleep now.

Come on, baby.

-Drifting off to sleep, Gemma...

-They anaesthetise her here. This is not an operating theatre.

OK, Pat, can you have a listen?

We're going to go back to the path. If you can make sure it's clear all the way down there for us. Thanks.

The team are now breathing for Gemma. It's a critical stage.

The crew have done all they can, but they must now get her to the helicopter as quickly as possible.

With parked cars and steep curves navigated, there's just the fenced field to contend with.

Andy's put her to sleep, so she's ventilated with a secure airway.

Other than that, she's agitated and has a head injury. She needs to be there as soon as possible.

-All clear left.

-It's been a tough job for the whole crew,

but interventions made at this stage can save lives.

She was initially conscious, very combative, agitated.

Her airway was a concern to us.

That's why we popped her off to sleep, so that we could take control of her airway.

Her breathing is very important with a head injury.

Gemma spent the next 24 hours on a life support machine at Sheffield Children's Hospital.

Her parents didn't leave her bedside.

They say young people heal quickly and despite a long list of injuries,

just a few days after the accident Gemma is home.

I honestly thought she were dead.

That's all I can remember to this day.

When the air ambulance came, it was serious.

Dwaine is very grateful to all the emergency services who worked so hard to treat Gemma.

Without the air ambulance and paramedics, she wouldn't be here.

Coming up: he survived a 20-foot fall,

but has he really escaped with just a broken leg?

And a bird man comes down to earth with a bump.

He came in really fast. You can see that huge divot.

Let's catch up on the rescue operation to save a part-time medic caught up in a terrible car crash.

A car driver is fighting for his life after smashing into a tree.

Both Heli Med 99 and Heli Med 63, the Great North Air Ambulance,

are on the scene after the pilots guided them safely onto the ground.

They're about to extricate the patient onto a long board.

Then they'll put him to sleep ready for transporting to hospital.

The driver, Richard Harper, is so badly injured, Heli Med 63's doctor decides to anaesthetise him.

A field in North Yorkshire is about to become an operating theatre,

but first fire crews have got to haul Richard from the twisted metal.

Live power lines are lying just yards from the car.

Six inches, ready? Lift!

Richard's out of the car, but not out of danger.

He's still unconscious and medics couldn't clear his airway.

His survival now depends on how fast they gain control of his breathing.

Suction here.

Serious condition - head injury,

multiple fractures - so he's not too good at the moment.

As the team sets to work on Richard, the fire crews start packing up.

As the area's cleared, it's obvious why Richard is so badly injured.

It's quite a severe injury and severe damage to the vehicle.

He's hit a tree in the process, so you can imagine the damage.

Details also emerge about Richard.

He's an Ambulance Service first responder, used to delivering life-saving treatment,

but today passing motorists used his equipment to give him emergency first aid.

Quite early into the incident, somebody did say that the patient was actually a responder.

As far as patient treatment is concerned, we don't do anything different because of that,

but when you feel it's one of your own, another healthcare worker,

it does make you that much more determined to do everything to help him.

The doctor prepares the paramedic team. They must all work together.

Paramedic Lee's first job is to try to find a vein in Richard's arm

so the doctor can deliver the anaesthetic drugs.

Putting a patient to sleep is a complicated surgical procedure.

Attempting it in a muddy field is not ideal, but it could save Richard's life.

Ready with the drugs.

The team are almost ready and it's down to Lee to deliver the drugs that will stop Richard breathing.

This is it. As Lee's drugs start to take effect, Richard stops breathing.

-That's seven mils for the first one.

-OK.

Drip up in the air.

It's now critical they get a tube down Richard's throat as fast as possible.

-Drip's open and running.

-If they can't start breathing for him, Richard will die.

Release the pressure a little bit.

It's all over in a matter of seconds. It worked and they are now controlling Richard's breathing.

The team could have just saved Richard's life,

but now they must work quickly to get him ready for the short flight to hospital.

Doctor's put the patient to sleep. A lot easier to manage.

We've sorted him out peripherally to get him onto the aircraft and to Middlesbrough Hospital.

Ready, steady, lift.

This time Tony and Lee load the patient into a different helicopter

as the team decides Heli Med 63 should fly Richard to the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough.

It's pointless us flying him up and them following us, going north as well.

We've helped. Now we're going back.

Richard will be receiving vital hospital treatment in less than ten minutes.

For Steve, Tony and Lee, it's a long journey back to Leeds, wondering if Richard will make it?

Coming up, Richard's injuries are very serious, but his mum's not giving up hope.

We're gonna try and get him there as far as possible.

And proof that falling on water at this speed really is like hitting concrete.

Anyone can qualify for a ride in an ambulance if their injuries are serious enough,

but one patient has reason to be grateful that his mum is a fan of the Helimed team.

Farmer's son Peter Rooke has been lucky to survive a 20-foot fall through the roof of a barn.

This is the second time Helimed 99 has been to Beadlam Grange Farm.

Four years ago, the crew saved the life of his mum Jenny

who now runs an annual fund-raising event for the Air Ambulance charity.

It's only a matter of weeks since the chopper was here for this year's Tractor Marathon.

-We were here.

-What's the chances of that, eh?

Peter's in agony from a broken bone in his thigh and the crew fear he may also have injured his back.

I have for you a 20-year-old man, fallen approximately 20 feet on to concrete.

Peter plunged backwards through a skylight, but he was lucky.

He landed on his feet and his legs took the full impact.

With this concrete floor, a head injury would have been fatal.

-Which bit landed first, Pete?

-I don't know, to be honest really.

-OK.

-Presumably, left side.

The team would like to take Peter to the Trauma Unit at Middlesbrough's James Cook Hospital.

It means flying over the 2,000-foot hills of the North York Moors and the weather's getting worse.

There was a shower as we came over here. Now it's caught up with us.

We need to get going quick before we get wet.

It's definitely the best decision to go to York.

Pete's heading south at 150mph and he's still in pain, despite the drugs.

We've given him morphine which has settled his pain down somewhat.

We're just taking him to York District.

You don't give morphine willy-nilly, so we initially gave him a relatively small amount

to see if that does the trick, which it hasn't at this stage.

We give him a bit more until we get on top of the pain.

In less than 15 minutes, Helimed 99 has outrun the rain

and is circling over the ancient rooftops of historic York.

Peter needs surgery to his shattered leg. And doctors will also want to X-ray his back.

If he has avoided a spinal injury, he's been very lucky.

The paramedics are pleased to help the fund-raising farmers.

They donated and they get the assistance when they need it. I'm glad they did get it.

And the pilot knew where they lived!

Just four days later and, incredibly, Peter is back on his feet.

X-rays ruled out a spinal injury.

Thanks to a steel pin running through his whole upper leg, there isn't even a plastercast.

I was lucky to land on a relatively flat bit, instead of a big object.

It was agonising, the pain.

It was all in my leg. I was moving my arms and that, so...

But nowt went through my mind about being paralysed or anything.

It was just so agonising, this pain.

Peter's going to be a spectator down on the farm for a month or two

and he is in no hurry to repeat the accident.

I'm usually sort of all right with pain, but I've got to admit that.

The Air Ambulance has now landed at Beadlam Grange four times.

Peter's dad knows better than most how useful it is.

It's absolutely valuable because, you know, there was no hesitation.

The ambulance crew didn't want to take Peter on a bumpy ride.

It's cross-country to get to York Hospital from here.

Because you're in a rural area, it's another vital piece of equipment in medical terms.

It costs nearly £7,000 a day to keep Yorkshire's two Air Ambulances in the air,

but thanks to their annual Tractor Marathon,

the Rooke family have raised far more than the cost of their two flights to hospital.

Coming up, the mum who refused to give up on her son, seriously injured in a high-speed smash.

I saw him after his accident. It was just horrendous.

Extreme sports were invented as an antidote to the safety of modern life,

so people who get a kick out of taking a risk often end up needing a helicopter.

Adrenaline-pumping and occasionally downright scary,

more and more people of all ages are taking to extreme sports,

whether it's acrobatics on water, throwing yourself off hillsides or riding down mountains at high speed.

If you do something like this, you expect to get a few bruises. That's where the Air Ambulance comes in.

We're off to a location, it's only about two minutes' flight time.

Someone's fallen off a pushbike in the woods and it's gonna be an access problem for the crew.

Might be an access problem for us judging by that hill!

What Pete describes as a pushbike has disc brakes, suspension and cost a few thousand pounds.

Mountain biker Rob Carr is an extreme sportsman in extreme pain.

Along with his brother Jamie and friend Ian,

they were filming themselves biking over some pretty testing tracks.

Well, not what...you want on a warm day - carrying all this kit up the hillside!

Rob was jumping his bike off this rock when he landed badly and came off.

He heard a bone in his ankle crack when he hit the ground.

Do you think it's broken or not? I can't feel any more grinding.

Normally, people have a pretty good idea of their own body.

He's not moved in half an hour. If it had just been a sprain or a strain,

once that initial pain goes off, Rob would have moved himself.

He's stayed as he is and splinted it by his natural body posture.

So he probably has done something a bit more severe.

Pete is aware that there are going to be problems with moving Rob down to that helicopter.

Pilot Steve is talking to base, working out what to do, and bringing up a splint for Rob's ankle.

I've got your leg there. Straighten your leg out for me. Relax your thigh. You've tensed it up.

Relax it, Rob. How does that feel?

-Both sides or...?

-Mainly the outside.

-OK.

Rob, talk to me.

As they carefully splint Rob's leg, Pete decides that it's too dangerous

to stretcher him down the hill to the helicopter. They need a land ambulance to pick Rob up.

If they can get through there, rather than carry him all the way down to the aircraft...

There is a good dirt track leading to where they are and it's only a mile from the main road.

While Rob is lying waiting for his ambulance, at the other end of the track, there's a problem.

Firstly, there's a barrier, and secondly, there's a very strong-looking padlock on it.

But ambulance crews know about these things, and as well as medical kit, they carry bolt croppers.

And on this occasion, they're gonna come in handy.

One, two... Ugh!

I had to work up a bit of a sweat and I've got a few hairs out of place.

But I can't complain really.

While Rob waits for his ambulance, his brother Jamie reveals the full truth behind that fateful jump.

We'd already done it before, so it was just that one last time.

That dreaded one last time. One more for the camera and that was it.

-It was for the screensaver.

-Yeah.

And here it is, two seconds before the smash - Rob's screensaver shot with no head!

At last, Rob's on his way to hospital. The helicopter crew are sorry they couldn't take him.

But as the ambulance pulls away on top of the hill, you can clearly see why.

A week later, and for Rob, there is plenty of time for some bike maintenance.

I don't know if anybody can lay claim to knowing what a breaking bone is like,

but that was the noise I heard.

I thought, "Oh, yeah. That'll be a broken bone then."

He has two breaks in that ankle and some chipped bones,

so when he was on the ground, he was in a bad way,

but also he knew the helicopter would struggle to get to him.

I was a helicopter crewman in Northern Ireland.

Before you choose to land at a site, you have to recce it, just to see if it's safe,

if there's any obstructions or wires you're gonna hit on the way down.

I guessed after the third circle, it wouldn't be landing too close.

Rob is a serious mountain biker.

He has even ridden the breathtaking mountain bike trail up the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps

and he is determined to get back on two wheels.

I had my 40th birthday last year. It felt like a mid-life crisis, just taking up the sport.

I've got a reasonably good bike, albeit second-hand here.

I'm a Yorkshireman, so I'd like to get value for money out of it.

So I think I'll definitely be back on the bike later on this year or certainly next season.

Helimed 99 is on the way back from Rob's smashed ankle on the hillside when Pete gets another call.

'Helimed 99, are you anywhere near the scene? They can see a helicopter.'

Helimed 99, we're currently five minutes ETA to scene.

It won't be us they can see. We've just come over Barnsley.

It's not a rocky hillside that's done the damage this time. It's a high-speed smash on water.

14-year-old Tabitha Nixon was taking part in a wakeboarding competition on a lake near Sheffield

when she hit the water hard.

-Wires down amongst the trees there as well.

-Yeah.

-We're over the trees.

-Yeah, we're over the trees my side.

With water on one side and wires on the other,

Steve must land in the boat club car park and there isn't much room.

The wakeboarding competition is still in full swing

and Pete's young patient has been taken into the clubhouse and laid out on the floor.

We've sent for a big sleeping bag. You'll be more comfortable.

Tabitha's head is bleeding and she damaged her back when she hit the water.

She could have a spinal injury.

Pete reassures his patient and with help from her parents and the police,

she's carefully moved on to a rigid spinal board.

If you wanna just hold the board up... That's great.

We're going back on "roll" again. Ready, steady, roll.

Flying is the best way to transport a patient with a serious back injury.

With the competition she was taking part in still going on around her,

Tabitha is put on to Helimed 99 and they take off.

The destination is the specialists at Sheffield's Children's Hospital, only minutes away.

When you hit the water at speed, it's very unforgiving and bones break.

But people always say the younger you are, the quicker you heal.

-In Tabitha's case, that's true.

-I was just unlucky where I fell.

On just a wake jump. It's still a mystery how I cracked my head open!

Her scans showed that there was no serious damage.

You would think that at the very least confidence would be dented, but not in this case.

I've been wakeboarding since I was seven. I was just unfortunate on the day.

Tabitha's mum watches nervously now as daughter plus crash helmet still goes for it at top speed.

She's a resilient little soul

and it's been her passion for an awful lot of years.

Her first words on recovery were, "Will I be able to do the competition in a few weeks' time?"

Anyone in an A&E department will tell you

that the number of people injured at extreme sports is going up and up.

Yorkshire is great for paragliding, but sometimes they crash.

PHONE RINGS Hello, Yorkshire Air Desk?

Helimed 98 is needed at the northern edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

A hang glider has come down with a bit of a bang on Dodd Fell.

Pilot Tim, paramedic Sammy and Dr Andy Pountney are on their way.

The coordinates we've got, it's potentially on a very steep slope,

so we have issues about where we land the aircraft

and how we get the patient to the aircraft.

Andy's right. It is steep. That's what paragliders like.

Pilot Tim moves the helicopter down gently.

There's a flat bit of ground.

48-year-old Greg Butt had been flying for half an hour when he came down.

He came in really fast and you can see the huge divot back there.

He landed on his backside and somersaulted over.

It's a dull ache, so it's about two or three, but there were spasms

when it goes to kind of four or five.

-But when I did it, it was kind of seven, eight.

-Right.

Greg's a qualified pilot and had all the right gear.

A good thing too. This seat probably saved him.

It can take a lot of impact.

So it's done its job because he came in quite hard. That's what they're designed to do.

Ready, steady, roll...

He needs his back protecting before the flight away from the dales.

On to the spinal board, and with the help of all his mates, into the helicopter.

He's taken a fair tumble. He's landed on his bottom.

We've taken all the precautions in getting him on to a spinal board.

We'll give him some morphine, as well as the gas and air, get him comfortable and fly him to Harrogate.

Greg's flight from the dales to hospital takes 15 minutes.

He's soon into A&E and under the X-ray machine.

It revealed he had broken a bone in his back,

but he's determined to fly again.

There are thousands of accidents involving extreme sports men and women every year.

They choose danger and they love it.

Thankfully, most of them don't need trips in an Air Ambulance,

but it's nice to know it's there if this sort of thing gets your adrenaline pumping.

Let's find out what happened to the medic injured in a major car crash near the Yorkshire coast.

A muddy field between Pickering and Scarborough has been turned into a makeshift operating theatre

as Helimed 99's crew fight to save an injured car driver.

Head injury, multiple fractures, so he's not too good at the moment.

Richard Harper's chances of survival are slim,

but a team of medics, with a doctor from the Great North Air Ambulance, anaesthetise him at the roadside.

It's risky as the team stop Richard's breathing before gaining control of his airway.

Paramedics Tony and Lee have helped give Richard the best possible chance of survival.

It's now up to a team of doctors in Middlesbrough to try and save Richard's life.

It's four months since the crash and as spring arrives at Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast,

Richard's mum Carol grabs some fresh air.

She has scarcely left her son's bedside in all that time.

Looking back on the outcome that was going to be, I really can't bear thinking about it.

Richard had devastating injuries.

He is slowly recovering, but he has already endured hours of surgery.

The surgery that Richard's had up to now is, um...

His brain... The front part of his brain put back in the sleeve.

His cheek bones, his eyes,

and his jaw, his shoulder,

his elbow, his wrist and his leg,

all to the right side of him.

After weeks in intensive care, Richard is being sent to his local hospital to complete his recovery.

He is very lucky to be alive.

I feel a lot better in myself.

But there's quite a few injuries still to...

..still to get sorted out.

But it'll just take time.

Richard was a fit man who loved his work for the ambulance service.

It's something he is unlikely to do again.

He's been a first responder, UK events, he goes to football matches.

And to see him six hours after his accident was just horrendous.

Richard and his mum are very grateful to the paramedics who fought to keep him alive.

Some of the ground ambulance team knew him.

They wouldn't have thought that somebody they knew would be sat there waiting for them to come.

They would have come anyway and they would have realised who I was

and just go on and that's it.

Ready, steady, lift!

Some days, I don't know how I got through it, but we're looking ahead. It'll be nice to have him home.

That's all from Helicopter Heroes, but when we come back, the team call in reinforcements

after an injured mountain biker is stranded.

A five-year-old boy has lost part of his ear, but the paramedics think they can save it.

Vehicle left the road. He's got nasty head injuries.

0 to 60 in four seconds and worth a fortune, but who is going to buy it now?

And the hospital backroom staff scramble to help the Helimed team save lives.

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2008

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