Episode 3 Helicopter Heroes

If you're critically ill or seriously injured

in a place like this, there's only one thing that can save you

and that's speed.

It doesn't matter where you are, this helicopter

with its highly trained team of pilots and paramedics

will fly to your rescue at two-and-a-half miles a minute.

These are Yorkshire's helicopter heroes.

When the people of England's biggest county dial 999,

there's a chance help will come from the skies.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance is ready to scramble 365 days a year

and each one brings a new life or death emergency.

Today on Helicopter Heroes, there's an air crash.

Helimed 99 flies to the rescue.

-How does your breathing feel?

-Hard.

A young driver's in trouble in an upturned car.

Please be careful! Don't let it fall!

Police, camera, traction - a car chase ends with an injured suspect.

He's come from that field, through this field, taking out a tree.

And an unhappy landing for the bird man who touched down in a tree.

The skies of Yorkshire are among the busiest in the UK.

Not to mention two international airports and three busy RAF bases,

it's also home to hundreds of weekend fliers.

And sometimes the Helimed team find themselves scrambling to the rescue of a fellow aviator.

Helimed 99 is on its way to a car crash.

Ambulance control have a more urgent call for paramedics, Darren and Sammy.

'Air control, Helimed 99, we're diverting you to another emergency.

'40-year-old male,

'crashed a motorised trike into a fence.'

There's a quad bike down there, about 9 o'clock.

A Microlight plane has crashed on take-off from a farm landing strip.

-Is that something that's crashed?

-Yes, something's crashed I think. Right, OK. Somebody's waving at us.

He's probably fallen down a ditch.

That's a crumpled mess.

Mark Badminton is an experienced flying instructor.

His plane suffered engine failure and crashed into a hedgerow.

The paramedics fear he has damaged his spine. He's certainly in pain.

On a scale of one to ten, if ten is the worst pain and a zero is none.

-This is ten.

-This is ten and which bit is it that hurts the most?

Sammy's ambition is to fly in a Microlight,

but this is a reminder of how little protection there is for pilot and passenger.

-Can you remember what happened?

-Yeah.

-Any idea what sort of height you were at?

We just hit the hedge. We were going level.

How an accident happened can help the paramedics work out

how serious the patient's injuries may be.

All Mark knows is that it hurts. But Dr Tom Hurst suspects he may have a spinal injury.

-Just down the middle of your back here.

-Ow! Ow!

We need another crew as well.

-Ambulance ETA five minutes.

-Excellent.

Mark's breathing is laboured.

He's clearly sustained a serious chest injury as well.

Which side of your chest feels worst?

-PATIENT GROANS

-Pardon?

-Central.

-Central.

-Sternum.

How does your breathing feel?

-Hard.

-Hard.

I'm going to put a needle in your arm, all right, and then we can give you some pain relief with that, OK?

His passenger was also hurt as the plane came down in a stubble field.

He's in the care of Holly, an off-duty member of the ambulance service

who dashed to the scene from her home.

-It feels bruised.

-It just feels bruised, all right.

-I can't feel anything on that side.

-We're going to bob a collar on you.

-Yeah.

-We're going to play it as if you've hurt your back, all right?

Then we'll bob you on a spine board when the ambulance gets here.

Microlights aren't built to crash and this one had a full tank of fuel. Gallons have spilled out.

And with her patient and only yards away, Sammy is worried about fire.

Is there a fuel cut-off switch?

She needn't be.

Despite his injuries, pilot Mark remembered his safety drill.

-You did it?

-Yeah.

Simon Melton wasn't expecting this flight to end like this and he wants to tell his wife.

Sadly, there's no signal, so a friend has to break the bad news.

He's just had a bit of an accident in the Microlight.

He's all right but he's just going to York Hospital.

Don't worry, he's all right. He's fine, conscious and everything. He's all right.

He's about to get in the ambulance.

Mark's just beaten the odds by surviving an air crash

that could have easily killed him and his passenger outright.

But concern over his medical condition is growing.

We're putting this collar round your neck...

Coming up, Helimed 99 takes off with the downed flier.

Will his injuries ground him for good?

He probably has bilateral rib fractures.

He may have a small amount of collapse of the lung underneath.

You're nicked. The traffic cop hitches a lift with his suspect.

And a big walker takes on a big challenge and lands the medics with a big problem.

I got to the top and that was it.

Young drivers pay more for their insurance for good reason.

They have more accidents, but it's not always their fault.

Sometimes the road conditions or the weather catch out an inexperienced motorist.

On a miserable day near Sheffield, the weather has played its part in a serious accident.

A car has left the M18 after aquaplaning on water and plunged down a wooded embankment.

Its driver is trapped.

Helimed 98 is on the way.

Helimed 98 to Yorkshire air desk cover.

Yeah, roger. The crew are showing 11 minutes away, over.

The downpour may have made the roads tricky

but flying in low cloud and rain is potentially just as dangerous as being out and about down there.

I can't see much up the hill, can you, slowing down?

You've got the wires running on the ridge.

An unseen power line can bring down a helicopter, but at least paramedics,

Pete Vallance and Paul Bradbury, haven't got far to go this morning.

On the radar, look where the guy is,

the right hand side.

You can see stripes leading off the road.

Tim has to touch down on a steeply sloping field.

-That's steeper than it looks.

-It is.

It means the whirling rotor blades are only feet from the ground.

It could be a risky exit for Pete and Paul.

We're on the limit. Watch yourself when you get out.

24-year-old, Kelly Gannon, was driving to work as a shop manager at the giant Meadowhall Shopping Centre

when her morning commute ended in a terrifying crash.

Hi, it's ambulance again. I'm going to try and open this door, my love.

-Be careful, don't let it fall!

-Don't worry.

Now she's pinned in her seat and only a few tree branches

are preventing her car from plunging further down the embankment.

Do you remember what happened prior to it?

I hit a big... I think there must have been a puddle just where I've come off the motorway.

-You've aquaplaned off?

-Pardon?

-You've aquaplaned, have you? Skidded on the water.

It just went like that and I lost control, I couldn't keep hold of the steering wheel.

-It just turned and I went flying.

-OK.

She's still in her seat belt so she's suspended upside down.

What we're going to do is ease her out gently,

place her on a long board and do a further examination in the back of the vehicle.

Kelly's car is a soft-top and she's been very lucky the trees didn't tear off the roof,

but she's not out of danger yet.

Right, Kelly, can I feel your legs, darling?

Kelly's terrified.

She can feel the car moving.

It's going to move! It's going to move!

Kelly, it's the door moving, the door's banging on my leg.

-That leg all right?

-Yeah.

-Fantastic.

-Have you still got the seat belt on at the moment?

-Yeah.

-All right.

Paul's not saying so but he's concerned, too.

He wants Kelly out, fast.

I'm trying to think of the best way.

If I get in, stabilise her. As soon as we release the belt she's going to drop straight down.

Paul and Pete know cars can easily tip over.

Get to the side of her, do you think? Yeah?

Paul's taking no chances.

Kelly's seat belt has done its job but dozens of dazed motorists are seriously injured each year

when they unfasten their belts after an impact and fall on to their heads.

What I'm going to do, I'm going to come and put myself here, all right?

Hold your waist and I'm going to take the seat belt off and I'm going to ease you on to this side.

-Which side?

-This side, where the door is, all right?

They're about to move Kelly and with the car still held by a single sapling that's a risky operation.

Coming up, the rescue operation begins.

Paul becomes a human safety net for his patient.

-I've got your weight. Does that hurt when I'm pressing?

-Just my waist.

-Just your waist.

A Microlight pilot's medical condition gives cause for concern.

He's breathing shallow because of the pain.

And an electrician is blown off scaffolding when he tries to fix a light in a gale.

Giving hospital doctors the full story on a patient's accident or illness

is a vital part of a paramedic's job, but sometimes finding out the truth can be tricky.

In North Lincolnshire, there's been a police chase and the suspect is injured.

-Straight through, Donny.

-Yeah.

-Sandtoft, along, right on the border with Humberside.

-OK.

-ATZ.

Paramedics, Pat Greaken and Lee Davison, don't know what their patient has done

but it sounds like he needs their skills.

-'Yorkshire air desk, Helimed 98 receiving.'

-Helimed 98 receiving now.

'Apparently the injuries, this 30-year-old male, are life threatening.

'The patient approximately left the road at 100 miles an hour,

'so I think you're going to need a police officer on scene to travel with you to hospital, over.'

Pilot, Tim Taylor, has flown police helicopters

but this will be the first time he's carried a passenger who's actually under arrest.

I don't think you'll want to try and jump out at 1,000 feet!

He's not that desperate to escape!

Would you want to stay in a helicopter with grumpy Lee sat in the front seat? I wouldn't!

A high-speed pursuit involving the elite Humberside Police vehicle crime unit,

stars of the hit TV series, Traffic Cops, has ended in a major accident.

In the middle of the field there, 4 o'clock.

-You see?

-Aye.

-Yeah.

-He's done a good job of that.

Afternoon, gents.

He's a big fellow. 24 stone.

How do?

-Hello.

-He's been pursued by the police.

He's come from that field, through this field, taking out a tree.

Significant damage to the car,

airbags have all gone off, seat's actually collapsed.

-Steering column's collapsed

-Onto his pelvis, yeah.

Whenever a police car is in an accident, there's a major investigation.

And because there was a chase, it already involves the Independent Police Complaints Authority,

but the Helimed team know that getting their patient to hospital as fast as possible

takes priority over everything else.

He's come from that junction.

Basically he didn't make the S-bend and he came straight across...

-And continued.

-And continued.

We're concerned about his injuries because the vehicle is badly damaged.

We've immediately taken him from the vehicle. It started to smoke so we're concerned about safety issues.

Taken him from the vehicle, straight to the recovery position and he's complaining of back pain, etc.

We're going to go to Hull Royal, estimate Hull Royal at 1335.

It's feared the driver may have injured his spine when the car landed in the field.

We're going to fly him to Hull Royal

with a police officer on board because he's under arrest.

The team know this is exactly the sort of impact that can lead to serious internal injuries.

The body and the car came to an abrupt stop,

the organs can carry on moving inside the body,

so you can get bruising and things like that,

so we need to keep him monitored and Pat's just sorting that out and then we'll be off.

The driver may not have escaped but he's been lucky.

This accident could easily have been fatal.

The empty roads of rural Lincolnshire frequently top the UK's road death statistics.

Helimed 98 is fully laden.

Deep breaths, everyone. Let's hope we have a good take-off.

Hull's big city hospital is less than five minutes away.

Depending on the outcome of the driver's examination

it's also just down the road from Humberside Police headquarters.

But first, they've got to cross the mighty Humber estuary, all two miles of it.

-25 metre pressure day.

-Yeah.

Swimming with your pyjamas on or something.

But there's a problem. The landing pad is half-a-mile from the A&E department.

The ambulance sent to pick up their patient hasn't arrived.

There has been a communication breakdown,

probably because the accident happened in the area covered by another ambulance service.

There we go.

-Security aren't even here, are they?

-No.

Did control say if they'd had any difficulty getting a crew?

We've landed and there's no security here and no vehicle.

We're just waiting for a vehicle to come round.

We've called control and our control and we're just having a word with them

to see if there's a problem getting a vehicle here. Hopefully a couple of minutes we should be ready.

Finally, the people needed to move the driver turn up.

It's been an unusual emergency

but paramedics are trained to give all patients the same care regardless of how they were hurt.

You don't judge people on what they've done or who they are,

it's just treating their medical condition

and the primary concern for us as medics is to look after them and make sure he's OK medically.

What he's done outside of that the police will deal with.

And obviously they've travelled with us because he remains under arrest.

We don't let that get in the way of what we have to do, they understand that,

that if we need to do any clinical intervention they allow us to do that.

The driver was charged with several offences

and convicted by a local court in connection with a deception charge.

He didn't receive a jail sentence and fully recovered.

Coming up, the operation to free a trapped motorist begins.

Will the sapling supporting her car hold?

Plus, paramedic Pat gets caught up in his own emergency - with a barbed-wire fence!

Don't you be filming this!

When you're a flyer, the worst time to have engine failure is just after take-off.

The ground is very close, you've got no time to work out what has gone wrong,

and a crash is just seconds away.

One lucky pilot survived this, but the team are still worried about his condition.

At an isolated airstrip in North Yorkshire, a Microlight has crashed.

The pilot, flying instructor Mark Badminton, is badly hurt.

He's taken the full force of the 45mph impact on his chest,

and he's struggling to breathe.

Let's put a collar on him.

The crew of Helimed 99, fear he may also have a spinal injury.

What we're going to do is we're going to put this collar round your neck, keep your head still for me.

Is it the back of your head that hurts?

Keep still for me. Keep still.

The accident has happened more than a mile from the nearest country lane.

North Yorkshire's ground ambulance crews are used to off-road driving.

Today, flying paramedic, Simon Cavanagh is at the wheel,

doing his regular stint on the ground.

We got it as a trike, somebody had driven a trike into a hedge.

We didn't know it was a Microlight till we got here.

We've got a gentleman with back pain.

But he's conscious and breathing, so we're not overly worried about him.

Obviously, you guys have got the serious one.

The team are ready to move, but Mark's in agony and he must have pain relief,

or he could go into shock.

-You want to give something?

-I'm thinking morphine, but if you want to go straight...

Flying doctor, Tom Hurst, knows Mark's lucky.

It's harvest time, when the fields are usually baked hard.

But there has been heavy rain, and mud has softened the plane's landing.

-OW!

-Which bit's hurting there?

-There's a guy pressing on me.

-Sorry, mate.

Mark is in a lot of discomfort.

A lot of it's caused by the rigid collar the team have put around his neck.

But if he does have a spinal injury, it could prevent paralysis.

We're going to take this gentleman to York.

It's only about four minutes away.

Simon Milton will go to hospital by road.

His injuries aren't as serious as his pilot's.

Paramedics, Darren and Sammy, don't see many air crashes,

and considering the way Mark's travelling to hospital, it's just as well.

OK, Mark?

Half an hour ago, Mark was lining up for take-off in his flexed wing Ultralight,

and now it's a twisted heap of tubular metal and nylon.

And he's about to take to the skies again, in a three-ton helicopter.

Heart rate's low, it's 66.

-I feel all right.

-You do?

Fantastic. Bit of a sportsman, eh?

Great, OK then.

Sammy's always fancied Microlight flying, so she could be forgiven for having second thoughts now.

It's a short flight to York, and thanks to the magnificent medieval minster, navigation is no problem.

Mark is already booked into an X-ray machine.

His back pain and numbness are worrying symptoms.

He may have bilateral rib fractures.

He may have a small amount of collapse of the lung underneath.

At the moment, his oxygen levels are fine and his breathing pattern is OK.

He's breathing very shallow, because of the pain.

There's not a lot to see, but I can feel it.

Whether he'll return to the cockpit's a question that doctors have yet to answer.

How's that pain in your chest now?

-It's down to a seven.

-A seven, good. That's good news.

I'm alive, it's a nice day.

That's a good attitude.

All that the crew of Helimed 99 know is that few aviators are as fortunate when they crash.

They have been extremely lucky. They've only come from about 20 feet,

but they were still travelling at 45mph across the ground.

Had they been coming from 40 feet off the ground, things could be entirely different.

Things like this always have an element of luck involved.

The team are sure that Mark's broken ribs on both sides of his chest,

among the most painful injuries you can endure.

Has the crash damaged his back?

That could be far more serious.

Coming up, Sammy has just seen what can happen when a Microlight crashes.

Can she beat her fears and fulfil an ambition to fly one?

-Pull it down like so...

-It's starting to turn. That's good.

Whoa!

And the patient suffering from embarrassment, why this man needed hospital treatment.

-He said he felt a little foolish.

-I can imagine.

Let's return to the case of the teenager who found herself trapped in her upturned car

after losing control on a South Yorkshire motorway.

On a miserable day near Sheffield, a car has aquaplaned and careered down a wooded embankment.

It's balanced precariously against a sapling, and one movement

could send it crashing further down the steep slope.

Motorist, Kelly Gannon is pinned in her seat upside down.

The crew of Helimed 98 are about to move her.

It's a risky procedure.

Paul will unfasten her seat belt, and catch her if she falls free.

I'm going to release this belt.

Does that hurt, when I'm pressing?

-Just my waist.

-Where the belt is.

The team have been unable to carry out a detailed examination in the car.

They've treated Kelly as if she's a serious spinal injury,

strapping her on to a rigid stretcher to keep her back straight.

I know it's not very comfortable, but just hang on.

And she's out. It's a big relief for Kelly, and her rescuers.

What we'll do, we'll slide you up nice and gently and we'll get you strapped on this board.

The car is still in danger of toppling.

Kelly managed to call for help on her mobile phone, and some of her family have turned up.

-Hiya. Are you Kelly's mum?

-Cousin.

She's fine, she's all right.

I'm from air ambulance. We just got her out. She's more shook up than anything else.

They needn't have worried.

It looks like Kelly has had a remarkable escape.

She's been a very lucky girl. She's left the road, I don't know what sort of speed she were doing.

Certainly on this slip road, I'd imagine she'd be doing about 70mph.

The vehicle has gone into the trees.

As it's a soft top,

it would only have taken one branch to come through the roof

and it could have been a different story.

Have you got any tightness in your chest? Do you feel short of breath at all?

She's off by road for a full check-up in hospital.

She doesn't seem seriously injured so the ambulance are going to take her.

It's only 10 minutes' drive to the local hospital.

Given the weather,

there's a fair chance there will be some more accidents.

So it'll leave us clear to work on anything else.

Younger drivers involved in accidents often have serious psychological consequences.

Will Kelly be happy to drive on wet roads again?

It's three months since her crash.

Kelly is back on the road, in an identical car.

-Hello. How are you doing?

-Fine, thank you.

The accident has made her nervous.

Today, she's booked into a course to learn how to tackle conditions like those which almost killed her.

This time, she'll be aquaplaning safely,

on a disused airfield, with a crash helmet and an instructor beside her.

Right then, Kelly. It's your turn now.

You'll see that you can control the car quite well.

This is the sort of training I had to do before they let me loose in a patrol car.

It certainly me made me a better driver.

Motorists like Kelly can make mistakes here safely.

Turn the steering, turn more. Off the throttle, off.

What's happening there, is that you're keeping the throttle on and it's pushing the front end away.

So when I start skidding, I need to take my foot off the gas, yeah?

When the front of the car slides, you need to come off the gas.

When the back of the car slides, you need to go on to it.

After half an hour, she reckons she's got much better grip of driving in the wet.

I feel a lot more confident in that if it did ever happen again,

I'd be able to drive out of it safely.

Brilliant. Which is exactly why you're here.

What you were saying happened is completely normal, hitting puddles. It could happen to anyone of us.

Definitely. I just think if you're taught a little bit like this when you start learning to drive,

you're taught the basics of how to manage a gearstick etc,

and you're not really taught what happens if you ever get into an accident.

I think if something like this was introduced to people,

it could prevent a lot of accidents on the road.

-That's power!

-Coming up, paramedic Sammy takes on a flight over one of the UK's most beautiful cities.

Is that you or me?

Most of the people who fly in this helicopter don't deserve to be hurt.

Often, sheer bad luck lads them on a stretcher.

Every week, the Helimed team meet people who could have spared themselves the pain and discomfort

with a little thought, or common sense.

Yorkshire's flying paramedics spent their lives in red suits.

Sometimes, they end up with red faces as well.

Pat Greaken knows the feeling.

All it took was an ambitious attempt to scale a barbed-wire fence,

and Pat is the talk of the Air Ambulance Unit.

Don't you be filming this!

He knows as well as his colleagues that it could have been worse.

An awful lot of patients end up in hospital

with an injury, and a severe case of personal embarrassment!

Ever since the Wright brothers, people have been looking for a cheap way to fly.

I don't mind forking out 99p plus taxes for a no-frills flight,

but I'd draw the line at taking off with our next patient.

Imagine strapping an engine and a large fan on your back,

and with the help of a parachute, climbing thousands of feet into the air. This is paramotoring.

This guy is an expert.

Today, the Helimed team are on the way to a pilot who has found out the downside of this sport.

This must be one of the shortest flights ever.

The unfortunate pilot has crashed into a tree on take-off, and he's broken his thigh bone.

He may be in pain, but the remains of his canopy show he's lucky to be alive.

The pilot's in agony.

Paramedic Sammy knows only one drug can help him.

And he needs more than she'd normally prescribe.

Chris, I'd like to have you contact a doctor,

to request to give 10 additional milligrams of morphine.

With a relatively small amount of training, anyone can fly a paramotor.

The inexpensive gear folds up into the boot of a car, and if you're brave enough,

you can reach speeds of over 40mph and heights of 10,000 feet.

This pilot barely made it off the ground.

With their injured birdman safely on board, it's time for pilot JJ, to show him how it's done.

The pilot made a full recovery, but his bruised pride may take longer to heal.

It's amazing how many people forget that something that was child's play as a kid

isn't quite that simple when you're the wrong side of 35.

Young legs, that once took you anywhere you like,

can easily run out of steam when you've left short trousers behind and put on a few pounds.

Out here, that matters.

Everything about the landscape of the Yorkshire Dales is outsized.

You need to be fit if you want to enjoy this place properly.

Nowhere demands more of a sightseer than Gordale Scar.

It's a vast limestone gorge, formed from a collapsed prehistoric cave.

-Let's just see if those two guys are still sat there.

-Yes.

Today, Helimed 99 has been scrambled to one of the few level patches of ground here, to rescue a tourist.

It means a difficult climb down a treacherous path for paramedic Sammy.

A man has collapsed halfway down the tricky route from the bottom of the gorge to the top.

This is an outing for hardcore walkers.

Are you the gentlemen that have asked for some assistance? Excellent.

Sit tight, I'll be with you in a second.

Magney Furamolmon, Mass to his mates, is out with his brother.

They had just climbed 250ft up a waterfall, when Mass keeled over.

-I got to the top of the waterfall, and that was it.

-Well done. Have a seat. Get your breath back.

This gentleman has been under quite an extreme effort up this hillside.

He felt unwell, recognised that, decided to come to a stop.

Sammy suspects 39-year-old Mass is simply exhausted.

He could have a mild heart attack, but there's no sign of it.

She can certainly rule out a shortage of energy.

Have you had some breakfast today?

Yes, I have. But I have also just had a

-Kit Kat, a Wagon Wheel, I've had a...

-You gutsy thing!

-I know!

Concerned passers-by have been feeding Mass.

It's two hours since he passed out but he still hasn't had the energy to complete the climb.

Luckily, the local mountain rescue team have turned out to help.

The plan is to walk the patient up the hill with a stretcher as a standby.

This patient has loss of consciousness and could have passed out for two minutes.

His obs appear well and normal at this time.

Mass's brother had a premonition their ambitious outing was going to go wrong.

Sat down and passed out. That was it.

It sounds daft, this but I had a funny feeling something was going to happen today.

It's a view mountain rescue seemed to share.

They say too many walkers aren't fit enough to for the routes they choose and fail to take basic precautions,

like taking food and water with them.

We've got a mountain rescue stretcher coming up with more personnel,

a couple of ropes and basically a big sleeping-bag, a casualty bag.

Mountain rescue are going to lead Mass up the path to the top.

He's a big fella and they're in no hurry to use their stretcher.

But it'll follow on behind just in case.

He still hasn't lost his sweet tooth.

If we wait here a bit longer I might get some Mars Bars or Snicker Bars or some Twixes.

Mass's brother would like to share a flight out of the scar,

but the Helimed choppers are for real emergencies.

Mass will enjoy the short flight to the ground ambulance parked at the end of the gorge.

His brother is going to have to walk.

Mass was checked out by the ambulance crew and found to be well, if a bit tired by his ordeal.

His flight cost the air ambulance charity around £2,000.

We all have to think about health and safety at work.

Someone even had to fill in a form before I could even stand here.

Sometimes the risks seem obvious, especially when it's blowing a gale

and you're off to climb some scaffolding.

Yorkshire's weather is well-known for being unpredictable.

Today, gusts of over 50mph are battering the county.

That hasn't stopped a hardy electrician from scaling a platform over 50 ft high.

Coming down didn't take as long as going up.

It is a very, very windy day today,

the wind might have blown him off.

Unfortunately it's the wind that's hampering our assistance.

The land crew have they described the wind as not an issue.

No disrespect, but if they're not aviators and there's gusts and there's just regular winds.

We're attempting and if we make it that will be great.

Obviously trying to mix it with a little bit of urgency and safeness.

-If you could err on the side of safety...

-Any time. Exactly.

As you get older, the yellow streaks get bigger, don't they?

But the wind is also giving Helimed 99 a few headaches.

That's what they call blustery, isn't it?

Just struggling to turn it round with the power available, that's all.

-Disconnect.

-OK.

Retired sparky, Ian Haig, was helping out at the local bowls club

by installing some new floodlights.

When the scaffolding started rocking in the wind,

rather than waiting for it to collapse, Ian decided to jump off.

Despite falling over 30 feet, he's had a relatively soft landing on the bowling green below

and broken his arm and leg.

OK then, sir! I tell you what,

we're in a bit of a precarious position, aren't we? We need to get you up off that floor.

You've been here an hour, is that right?

If you've tried to climb a ladder when it's windy, you'll know how risky it can be.

Last year dozens of people were injured after falling from scaffolding.

-Are you cold?

-No, I'm fine.

Try not to nod or shake your head.

-Just say yes or no. OK?

-OK.

Yorkshire's bad weather takes another turn for the worse as the wind is replaced by hailstones.

-This is nice, isn't it?

-Yes, beautiful.

There's now no time to waste.

The wind may have caused Ian's accident,

but plummeting temperatures are now putting him at risk from hypothermia.

The weather has closed in from the north,

so we're really wanting to be going south.

We're going to reassess the hospital landing site options.

So we might be going down to Harrogate, maybe.

Ready, steady, roll.

Ian's usually very sensible.

In over 30 years as an electrician, he's never had an accident.

Despite the weather forecast, he thought he'd be all right,

but the Helimed team have seen accidents like this all too often.

His obs are within normal range.

-Although he was only scoring pain two out of ten, he obviously was in a lot of pain.

-Yes.

I've got to say, you're a bit silly doing that sort of work on a day like this.

Yes, he said he felt a little foolish.

I can imagine.

Ian spent nearly a week in hospital before being sent home with a new respect for high winds.

It doesn't come much more embarrassing than being injured when you're an uninvited guest.

That's what's happened today.

He's fallen from a loft through two floors before ending up,

we believe, down in the basement.

The guy has then, we believe, been knocked out.

When he's come round,

he's managed to crawl out to the side of the road where someone has eventually found him.

-Ah. There, Steve.

-OK. Great, cheers.

The accident has happened in an abandoned pub.

Nobody seems to know why the patient was in the building.

Whatever the reason, he's badly hurt.

He has bruising to the left side of his chest.

He's got air entry into the left-hand side but it's diminished

and he's complaining of pain in his lower left leg.

There's a suspicion the accident could be linked to scrap-metal theft from the building.

Whatever the reason for the accident, police are already taking an interest.

But paramedic Pete has got his own problems.

He's alert at the moment. He's just in pain.

Unfortunately we've not been able to get access to him,

because he's an ex-drug user and all his veins are sharp.

At the moment we'll just fly in.

The man was released from hospital after treatment.

The pub's owners have tightened security.

I'm glad to say all our patients have recovered with little more than bruising to their egos.

Paramedic, Sammy Wills loves flying, but she's never got her hands on the controls.

She's got good reason to be afraid of flying a Microlight,

but Sammy's not the sort of person to let a crash put her off.

The outcome for pilots and passengers involved in air crashes is rarely positive.

Thanks to the Helimed team, Microlight instructor,

Mark Badminton, and his friend, Simon Melton,

both recovered well after crashing into a field in North Yorkshire.

I'm going to put this collar around your neck.

For flying paramedic, Sammy Wills, it's another job well done.

Despite witnessing at first hand the risks involved,

she's decided to find out why so many people head for the skies when the dangers appear to be so great.

-Morning, Sammy.

-Good morning.

-How are you?

-A little bit anxious.

So, here it is. Are you nervous?

A little bit nervous, but more excited.

Obviously your job is flying. That's what you do for a living.

Is it always something you wanted to do outside of work?

I've loved all things aviation since being a kid.

So to get the opportunity to fly in a Microlight is a definite big tick in the box.

In your line of work, you've unfortunately seen the bad effects of when microlighting goes wrong.

-Tell us about that.

-The only time I've ever seen a Microlight up close,

I was kneeling on the wing upside down in a muddy field.

It hasn't put me off at all.

I do have faith in all their safety checks and the pilot that's gonna be flying me.

Today, Sammy will be flying a Microlight.

But that means she'll have to put the memories of helping Mark and Simon into the back of her mind.

Microlights are as simple as they look.

All that's keeping Sammy in the sky is a fibreglass fuselage,

one small engine and a fabric canopy.

For as little as a couple of grand and a few hours' instruction,

anyone can soar thousands of feet up, reaching speeds of over 80mph.

But Sammy is in good hands.

Pilot, John Teesdale, has been flying Microlights for over 20 years

and now makes his living teaching others how to fly them.

Naturally people are concerned that it's safe. Our safety record is as good as anyone in aviation.

You've got Sammy flying with you today.

What's she going to be in for?

We're gonna take her flying around York to seek the views

and we're going to get her flying the aeroplane.

You're going to get Sammy flying the aeroplane?

Yes. This is what I did for a living, so it's nothing new.

She'll be sitting in the front seat and she'll be steering the aeroplane.

Sammy's big moment has arrived.

But I'm keeping my feet firmly on the ground.

This is one of Sammy's biggest ambitions but she's also seen what can happen when it goes wrong.

Rather her than me.

-OK. All set?

-Yes.

I'm set. This is totally different to anything I've ever done before.

The take-off will take your breath away. We'll leave the ground before you'd expect.

That's power!

-Relax.

-Giddy Aunt.

-Relax.

-Yes, relaxed.

I don't feel vulnerable at all.

I feel open to the elements, but

it's just an amazing feeling and now I understand why we're wearing all the extra clothing.

Sammy's day job might involve flying thousands of feet above the ground

but that's where the comparison ends.

Sammy is in an open cockpit with only one engine and if anything goes wrong now,

they'll face the frightening prospect of gliding back down to Earth.

What a beautiful day.

I can definitely understand why people take this up.

-It's great, isn't it?

-100%, yes.

I have total respect for you, John.

Microlights are surprisingly easy to fly.

At nearly 3,000ft above the ground, it's Sammy's turn to take the controls.

We're in some smooth air now, so we'll look at how it flies.

Take your hands out the things for a moment.

-Hands out.

-Watch it fly itself.

Hey, your hands are out!

Yes. How about that?

Just push gently on the bar, push forwards a little bit.

Push forwards a little bit.

-Can you feel it pushing back at you?

-Wow! Yes.

-If you look at the speed, the speed is slowing down a bit.

-OK.

-Push a bit harder.

-Can you feel it pushing hard back at you now?

-Yes. That's really forceful.

OK, we're going to do a turn now.

Move the weight to the right a little bit.

Pull the right wing down, so sideways to pull the right wing down.

-Pull it down?

-Yes. It's starting to turn, that's good.

-Wow!

-OK?

Hold that, that's good.

Flying in Helimed 99 must feel like a limousine compared to this.

-Woo.

-Woo. Is that you or me?

-Bit of a thermal.

-In a Microlight, you feel every gust of wind and bump of turbulent air.

It's a privilege to fly, no matter what it is that you're in.

Reluctantly, it's time for Sammy to leave York's historic views behind and head back home.

It feels fast.

She's witnessed the worst part of microlighting, but now she's experienced the best.

-Hi, Sammy, What was it like?

-It was better than I thought it was gonna be.

-Really?

It truly, truly was awesome.

It feels like you are a bird.

There was nothing in front of you.

I absolutely loved flying the Microlight.

If my aviation days in the helicopter ever come to an end, I definitely need to keep the view.

-So any excuse to get back up in the air....

-Really?

When Helicopter Heroes comes back...

There's a rescue operation after a climber is badly injured in the Peak District.

Left ankle just above the joint.

Tip and fib poking out.

The golfer collapses on the green and only his son's first aid skills can save him.

Come on, Dad.

It's all stationary on the way down now.

The Helimed team have scrambled to a major road crash.

And the helicopters come into their own as snow puts the skids under their colleagues on the roads.

I've had to dig myself out about four times.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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