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If you're seriously ill or critically injured up here, | 0:00:02 | 0:00:05 | |
your life is in real danger. | 0:00:05 | 0:00:08 | |
Complaining of severe pain. | 0:00:08 | 0:00:11 | |
Mid-30s, been ejected from a vehicle. | 0:00:11 | 0:00:14 | |
Hospital's an hour away by road | 0:00:14 | 0:00:16 | |
and speed is the only thing that can save you. | 0:00:16 | 0:00:19 | |
Yeah, roger, Helimed 99 is en route to you, over. | 0:00:19 | 0:00:22 | |
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance and its highly-trained paramedics | 0:00:22 | 0:00:25 | |
are scrambled 1,000 times a year. | 0:00:25 | 0:00:27 | |
Tell me exactly what's happened. | 0:00:27 | 0:00:29 | |
A small child on the path, they've cut the corner and ran over him. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:32 | |
Many of its ex-military pilots flew the SAS into action. | 0:00:32 | 0:00:36 | |
That's not a suitable landing site. This one here is. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
Welcome to the life and death world of the Helicopter Heroes. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
Today on Helicopter Heroes, | 0:01:04 | 0:01:06 | |
a rambler's badly hurt after a bizarre attack | 0:01:06 | 0:01:09 | |
by a herd of cows. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:11 | |
One up and ran forward, put its nose underneath my wife's backside | 0:01:11 | 0:01:15 | |
and flipped her into the air. | 0:01:15 | 0:01:16 | |
I don't think we're going to get down there. | 0:01:16 | 0:01:19 | |
There's a major rescue operation high in the Peak District. | 0:01:19 | 0:01:22 | |
Where's the pain? Round the back of your head? | 0:01:22 | 0:01:24 | |
A new life in the country leaves some newcomers seriously injured. | 0:01:24 | 0:01:28 | |
One on a horse, one on a pushbike. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:31 | |
The horse basically jumped over the gentleman on the pushbike. | 0:01:31 | 0:01:34 | |
And why this woman owes this man her life. | 0:01:34 | 0:01:37 | |
Millions enjoy the right to roam the English countryside. | 0:01:46 | 0:01:49 | |
They come to enjoy the peace, the quiet and the beauty. | 0:01:49 | 0:01:53 | |
But behind these hedgerows lurks a danger | 0:01:53 | 0:01:55 | |
few bother to give a second thought. | 0:01:55 | 0:01:58 | |
The hillsides of the Yorkshire Dales | 0:02:00 | 0:02:02 | |
are a vital part of a multi-million pound industry | 0:02:02 | 0:02:05 | |
with a worldwide reputation. | 0:02:05 | 0:02:08 | |
And this is the workforce. | 0:02:08 | 0:02:10 | |
Every day, thousands of cows produce hundreds of gallons of milk | 0:02:10 | 0:02:15 | |
to make Wensleydale cheese. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:18 | |
It's a major export business, | 0:02:18 | 0:02:20 | |
making the market town of Hawes the cheese capital of the North. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:23 | |
But today, one herd is at the centre of an unusual emergency. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:29 | |
We've been called to an incident near Lofthouse up in North Yorkshire. | 0:02:30 | 0:02:33 | |
Apparently, somebody's been trampled on by some cows. | 0:02:33 | 0:02:37 | |
We're not quite sure of the injuries as yet. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:39 | |
We've had problems before where people have been trampled by cows. | 0:02:39 | 0:02:42 | |
You can get quite substantial trauma injuries from it. | 0:02:42 | 0:02:45 | |
Irene Pitham and her husband Mike | 0:02:45 | 0:02:48 | |
were on a walking holiday in the Dales. | 0:02:48 | 0:02:51 | |
Now she's lying seriously injured in a field. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:53 | |
Local paramedics are already on the scene | 0:02:53 | 0:02:56 | |
and farm workers are trying to keep the cows at bay. | 0:02:56 | 0:02:59 | |
We were walking across the field | 0:02:59 | 0:03:01 | |
and the cows with their calves came towards us. | 0:03:01 | 0:03:05 | |
They seemed to ease back and then one of them ran forwards | 0:03:05 | 0:03:08 | |
and just put its nose underneath my wife's backside | 0:03:08 | 0:03:11 | |
and flipped her into the air. | 0:03:11 | 0:03:13 | |
She went right over the top and then, thump, hit the ground | 0:03:13 | 0:03:17 | |
and then didn't move. And I just feared the worst. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:20 | |
She didn't seem to be breathing or anything. | 0:03:20 | 0:03:23 | |
Irene has a nasty head injury. | 0:03:24 | 0:03:27 | |
Cows are especially aggressive when they have calves. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:29 | |
They're thought to have reacted to the Pithams' dog, Cassie. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:34 | |
I've got a chopper coming down. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:37 | |
But now the cows are a problem for pilot Steve Cobb. | 0:03:38 | 0:03:41 | |
If he's not careful, | 0:03:41 | 0:03:42 | |
he could spook them into returning to the area where Irene is lying. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:46 | |
-Just this side of it, there's a wall here. -Yeah. | 0:03:48 | 0:03:50 | |
-Just this side of the building. -Yeah. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:53 | |
Steve's making sure he lands behind the team's patient | 0:03:55 | 0:03:58 | |
so that if the chopper scares the cows, they'll run away from Irene. | 0:03:58 | 0:04:02 | |
Out walking their dog, by the looks of it. | 0:04:03 | 0:04:06 | |
-Are you going to hop out? -Yeah, mate, yeah. | 0:04:09 | 0:04:11 | |
It's less than 15 minutes since the 999 call. | 0:04:11 | 0:04:14 | |
Saves climbing over, like we normally have to do! | 0:04:14 | 0:04:17 | |
And now Irene has four paramedics to take care of her, | 0:04:17 | 0:04:20 | |
despite the fact they're in a remote area of Nidderdale. | 0:04:20 | 0:04:24 | |
-Right, how we doing? -Hello. -Hiya. | 0:04:24 | 0:04:27 | |
This is Irene. She's landed pretty much this position. | 0:04:27 | 0:04:30 | |
She's managed to put her arm underneath her to hold herself up. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:32 | |
A mature cow can weigh half a ton and, because muscle makes meat, | 0:04:32 | 0:04:38 | |
they have been bred to have the strength to match their bulk. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:41 | |
Irene's taken the full force of it. | 0:04:41 | 0:04:43 | |
Apparently the cow did | 0:04:43 | 0:04:45 | |
toss her up into the air, | 0:04:45 | 0:04:46 | |
so she's been thrown quite a distance, | 0:04:46 | 0:04:48 | |
so there's potential for all sorts of other, internal injuries. | 0:04:48 | 0:04:52 | |
How much pain are you in, Irene? | 0:04:52 | 0:04:54 | |
-It's just this shoulder. -Just this left shoulder. | 0:04:54 | 0:04:57 | |
The Helimed team have been to fatal incidents like this. | 0:04:57 | 0:05:00 | |
They know their patient's injuries could be life threatening. | 0:05:00 | 0:05:04 | |
-Just try and relax there. -OK, no pain in your hips at all? -No. -OK. | 0:05:04 | 0:05:09 | |
The Pithams are experienced ramblers and knew cows could be dangerous | 0:05:10 | 0:05:15 | |
but the attack took both of them by surprise. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:18 | |
I don't think people realise, | 0:05:20 | 0:05:21 | |
but a good half-ton of angry beefburger can be pretty dangerous | 0:05:21 | 0:05:24 | |
and lots of people get injured every year, and killed, by cows, | 0:05:24 | 0:05:28 | |
especially when they've got their young with them. | 0:05:28 | 0:05:30 | |
And especially if you've got a dog with you. I think the advice | 0:05:30 | 0:05:35 | |
is, if you're in that situation, that you're supposed to let your dog go. | 0:05:35 | 0:05:38 | |
And the cows will chase your dog, not you. | 0:05:38 | 0:05:41 | |
But obviously, people's reaction is to protect their pets | 0:05:41 | 0:05:44 | |
and I think this is probably what's happened in this case. | 0:05:44 | 0:05:47 | |
Irene's lying where she fell, | 0:05:47 | 0:05:49 | |
but Tony's concerned the impact with the ground | 0:05:49 | 0:05:52 | |
could have damaged her back or neck. | 0:05:52 | 0:05:54 | |
She's going to be carefully rolled onto a spinal board | 0:05:54 | 0:05:57 | |
to protect her spine. | 0:05:57 | 0:05:58 | |
What you need to do now is relax and let us move you, OK? | 0:06:00 | 0:06:03 | |
On three. One, two, three. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:06 | |
SHE GROANS | 0:06:06 | 0:06:09 | |
-That's it. -OK, just relax. Just relax. | 0:06:09 | 0:06:13 | |
The cows are still only yards away | 0:06:13 | 0:06:15 | |
and the team know animals can return to trample injured victims. | 0:06:15 | 0:06:19 | |
They want their patient and their colleagues | 0:06:19 | 0:06:22 | |
out of the field as quickly as possible. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:25 | |
This helicopter can deliver lifesaving care quickly, | 0:06:36 | 0:06:40 | |
to places ordinary ambulances could never reach. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:43 | |
But some patients are injured in places SO remote | 0:06:43 | 0:06:46 | |
they are beyond the help even of the Helimed team. | 0:06:46 | 0:06:50 | |
The Peak District has some of the most spectacular scenery | 0:06:50 | 0:06:54 | |
in the country. | 0:06:54 | 0:06:56 | |
And the most rugged terrain attracts the most adventurous people. | 0:06:56 | 0:07:00 | |
Today, a walker from Cornwall has fallen nearly 20 feet | 0:07:00 | 0:07:03 | |
down a steep, rocky gully. | 0:07:03 | 0:07:05 | |
On the land and in the air, help is on its way. | 0:07:07 | 0:07:11 | |
We're on the way down to the Peak District. | 0:07:11 | 0:07:14 | |
We think it's a climber that's fallen about 10 feet. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:16 | |
We've since managed to get an update from Mountain Rescue in that area, | 0:07:16 | 0:07:20 | |
and it appears he may have sustained quite serious head injuries. | 0:07:20 | 0:07:24 | |
Kinder Scout is the highest mountain in the Peak District, | 0:07:26 | 0:07:29 | |
a vast plateau covering more than 5,000 acres. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
Finding someone stuck in a gully around here isn't an easy job. | 0:07:32 | 0:07:36 | |
-The right sort of area. -Yeah. | 0:07:36 | 0:07:39 | |
We've got a Mountain Rescue vehicle coming up about five o'clock, | 0:07:39 | 0:07:44 | |
by the looks of things. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:46 | |
Can't identify it, so you know, though there are two members | 0:07:46 | 0:07:50 | |
of looks like Mountain Rescue walking up the path in this valley. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:54 | |
I've directed them in towards where we believe the casualty site to be | 0:07:56 | 0:08:00 | |
and they're hovering about now. | 0:08:00 | 0:08:02 | |
Dave Mason's gone up that way. We're definitely in the right area. | 0:08:02 | 0:08:07 | |
More than a dozen Mountain Rescue volunteers have turned out, | 0:08:07 | 0:08:11 | |
but it's a long trek from the valley bottom. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:14 | |
Yeah, I've got a reference, right at the bottom of the sheer terrain. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:20 | |
Meanwhile, the crew of Helimed 98 | 0:08:22 | 0:08:24 | |
think they've finally found where they need to be. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:27 | |
Right now, they're below us, yeah. Bloke with the red top on. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:34 | |
But now they need to work out how to get to their patient. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:37 | |
I don't think we're going to get down there. | 0:08:37 | 0:08:40 | |
Steve lands the helicopter at the top of the steep valley. | 0:08:42 | 0:08:46 | |
But the heather and moorland peat is causing problems. | 0:08:46 | 0:08:49 | |
-Feel like it's sinking? -A little bit, yeah. | 0:08:49 | 0:08:52 | |
-Shall I just check the rear, Steve? -Yeah, if you would, mate. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:57 | |
Yeah, we're fine at that. It looks fine. | 0:08:57 | 0:08:59 | |
It's stuck into the heather, but nothing other than that. | 0:08:59 | 0:09:03 | |
98, we're looking at access where we are, up at the top of this ravine. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:13 | |
I don't think we're going to get anywhere near this patient, | 0:09:13 | 0:09:16 | |
without going all the way back down. | 0:09:16 | 0:09:19 | |
So I think it is going to require a winch out. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:22 | |
As paramedics Pete and Darrell try to get to their patient from above, | 0:09:23 | 0:09:27 | |
the Mountain Rescue team are arriving from below. | 0:09:27 | 0:09:31 | |
-Do you want the O2 on, gents? -Yes, please. | 0:09:31 | 0:09:34 | |
We've got some oxygen here for you, Stefanie, OK? | 0:09:34 | 0:09:36 | |
What we need to do is try and pop a needle in your hand as well. | 0:09:36 | 0:09:39 | |
What we can do is we can give you some pain relief then, my love. | 0:09:39 | 0:09:42 | |
Stefanie Helmle is badly injured and couldn't be in a trickier spot. | 0:09:42 | 0:09:47 | |
She's right at the bottom of a rocky waterfall, | 0:09:47 | 0:09:50 | |
having just fallen from where Pete and Darrell are now heading. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:54 | |
'They've just managed to call me up here. From where you're going, | 0:09:54 | 0:10:00 | |
'from the aircraft, you're right above the patient | 0:10:00 | 0:10:03 | |
'and they're a bit concerned you might dislodge some rock. | 0:10:03 | 0:10:06 | |
'One of them's going to try and call you, actually, on your handset.' | 0:10:06 | 0:10:11 | |
She's fallen about 18 feet, possibly landed on her head. | 0:10:11 | 0:10:14 | |
Not had a loss of consciousness, but we have had possibly some discharge | 0:10:14 | 0:10:18 | |
from the left ear and the nose. | 0:10:18 | 0:10:20 | |
Stefanie is in agony. | 0:10:22 | 0:10:24 | |
Ow! Ow-ow! | 0:10:24 | 0:10:26 | |
Luckily for her, one of the mountain rescue team is a trained paramedic. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:30 | |
-OK. -..When she fell. -Where's the pain round the back of your head? | 0:10:30 | 0:10:34 | |
-Can you feel me touching you there? -Where it's resting on the stone. | 0:10:34 | 0:10:37 | |
-Where it's resting on the stone. -Yeah. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:41 | |
Stefanie bounced off several rocks as she fell, landing on her head. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:45 | |
It looks like she's fractured her skull, | 0:10:45 | 0:10:47 | |
and fluid's leaking from her ear. | 0:10:47 | 0:10:49 | |
-I'm just struggling to get down there. -Sorry? | 0:10:49 | 0:10:52 | |
How's the patient? | 0:10:52 | 0:10:54 | |
How's the patient? | 0:10:55 | 0:10:58 | |
She's OK. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:00 | |
We've got to a position where, if we needed to, in an extreme emergency, | 0:11:00 | 0:11:04 | |
I dare say we could get down to the patient, | 0:11:04 | 0:11:07 | |
but it's quite a precarious drop down there. | 0:11:07 | 0:11:10 | |
Mountain Rescue have got a couple of paramedics amongst their crew | 0:11:10 | 0:11:14 | |
as well as a doctor. They're assessing the patient. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:17 | |
They believe they've possibly got a serious back injury | 0:11:17 | 0:11:21 | |
and potentially a head injury. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:23 | |
At times like this, even the Helimed team need help. | 0:11:23 | 0:11:26 | |
That sounds like a Sea King, that, doesn't it? | 0:11:26 | 0:11:30 | |
So the RAF have arrived. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:35 | |
Their much bigger Sea King helicopter can winch patients | 0:11:35 | 0:11:39 | |
without them needing to land. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:41 | |
But even for them, this is going to be a tricky rescue. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:45 | |
Bit hard to hear. That's the military hovering over us at the moment. | 0:11:45 | 0:11:49 | |
It will feel a little bit weird. | 0:11:50 | 0:11:52 | |
It'll be noisy, but, really, trust them, they know what they're doing. | 0:11:52 | 0:11:56 | |
Before Stefanie can be hauled up, their winch man must come down. | 0:11:57 | 0:12:01 | |
The high winds and steep gully make this a dangerous job. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:07 | |
But with Stefanie's serious injuries, | 0:12:07 | 0:12:09 | |
they need to get her to hospital quickly. | 0:12:09 | 0:12:11 | |
And the only way out will be straight up. | 0:12:11 | 0:12:14 | |
Many people dream of retiring to a rural area, | 0:12:26 | 0:12:29 | |
to a cottage with land and some animals. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
But for one family of city dwellers, | 0:12:32 | 0:12:34 | |
that dream turned sour in a very unexpected way. | 0:12:34 | 0:12:38 | |
Rural North Yorkshire is a county | 0:12:40 | 0:12:42 | |
where horses almost outnumber people. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
And today, Helimed 98 has been scrambled to a bizarre accident. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:49 | |
A fall of a horse, onto a pushbike | 0:12:49 | 0:12:51 | |
and the pushbike has got a head injury. | 0:12:51 | 0:12:54 | |
Got a horse on your right at two o'clock. | 0:12:54 | 0:12:58 | |
On a country lane near the market town of Easingwold, | 0:12:58 | 0:13:02 | |
a couple are lying injured. Paramedic Lee Davison's first task | 0:13:02 | 0:13:05 | |
is to decide which patient is most seriously hurt. | 0:13:05 | 0:13:09 | |
-Is it just one person involved? -No, two people. | 0:13:09 | 0:13:12 | |
-Have you been knocked out? -No. | 0:13:14 | 0:13:15 | |
OK, just sit tight, somebody else is coming to you, OK? | 0:13:15 | 0:13:19 | |
-Hi. -Hiya. -Hello. Hello, sir. -Hello. -Hello, air ambulance, all right? | 0:13:19 | 0:13:24 | |
-Hi. What's your first name? -Ian. -Ian? OK. Nice and steady. | 0:13:24 | 0:13:28 | |
Nicky Schofield was out riding her horse. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:32 | |
Her husband Ian was accompanying her on his mountain bike. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:36 | |
Then a passing car spooked Nicky's horse, | 0:13:36 | 0:13:39 | |
which knocked Ian off his bike, and threw his wife. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:43 | |
First of all, I'm just going to have a feel down your neck, OK? | 0:13:43 | 0:13:46 | |
If you'll just give me a hand a second, just stand in front of him. | 0:13:46 | 0:13:49 | |
Ian was knocked out and he has a head injury | 0:13:49 | 0:13:51 | |
but Lee's more concerned about his neck. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:54 | |
holding it will prevent any further damage. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:57 | |
Any pain there? No? | 0:13:57 | 0:14:00 | |
I was working in that field | 0:14:00 | 0:14:03 | |
and witnessed a husband and wife coming along, one on a horse, | 0:14:03 | 0:14:08 | |
one on a pushbike. A car came racing down the narrow road. | 0:14:08 | 0:14:11 | |
The horse basically jumped over the gentleman on the pushbike, | 0:14:11 | 0:14:15 | |
knocking him off the pushbike and presumably standing on it. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:19 | |
I wasn't much help with this on me hand! | 0:14:19 | 0:14:22 | |
-What's happened? -It's my shoulder. -What's actually happened then? | 0:14:22 | 0:14:26 | |
We were slowing down and then she was getting a bit jittery | 0:14:26 | 0:14:30 | |
-but I managed to hold her. But this car shot... -Right behind you. | 0:14:30 | 0:14:33 | |
Paramedic James Vine's taking care of Nicky. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:37 | |
She's obviously in severe pain. Her collar bone is fractured. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:42 | |
You've fractured your clavicle, sweetheart. | 0:14:42 | 0:14:44 | |
OK, so, let's just get you sorted, get you comfortable. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:48 | |
Take a deep breath for me. | 0:14:48 | 0:14:49 | |
HE MOANS | 0:14:49 | 0:14:51 | |
Is that painful, when I'm pressing to the right? | 0:14:51 | 0:14:53 | |
-(No, it's when I breathe in.) -When you breathe in, OK. | 0:14:53 | 0:14:55 | |
You've got a little head injury, where you've banged your head. | 0:14:55 | 0:14:59 | |
The gentleman thinks you have been knocked out. | 0:14:59 | 0:15:01 | |
I'll just pop this sling on, sweetheart. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:04 | |
OK, I'm just coming under here, sweetheart. | 0:15:04 | 0:15:06 | |
Witnesses led Nicky's horse away... | 0:15:08 | 0:15:10 | |
..but she's more concerned about her husband. | 0:15:11 | 0:15:14 | |
We usually go together. | 0:15:14 | 0:15:16 | |
Lee's getting him all sorted, don't worry. | 0:15:16 | 0:15:19 | |
-Your husband will probably come with us just as a precaution. -Yes. | 0:15:19 | 0:15:24 | |
We're very probably going to James. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:26 | |
Nicky will be going to hospital by road, but Ian's more seriously hurt. | 0:15:26 | 0:15:31 | |
Deep breath for me, Ian. | 0:15:31 | 0:15:33 | |
OK, good lad. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:37 | |
Lee is treating Ian as if he has an undiagnosed spinal injury, | 0:15:37 | 0:15:42 | |
but he fears his patient may also have a collapsed lung. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:45 | |
Decreased breath sound. We're going to roll him towards you. | 0:15:45 | 0:15:49 | |
Everybody happy with that? | 0:15:49 | 0:15:51 | |
One, two, three. | 0:15:51 | 0:15:54 | |
Nice and steady. OK. Where does that hurt? | 0:15:54 | 0:15:56 | |
Where's that hurting? Is there any pain there? | 0:15:56 | 0:15:59 | |
No? | 0:15:59 | 0:16:01 | |
I can't see anything on his back either. Right, OK. | 0:16:01 | 0:16:04 | |
Back on three. One, two, three. | 0:16:04 | 0:16:08 | |
OK. | 0:16:08 | 0:16:10 | |
-Let's have a quick look at this hip while we're here. -Nicky may have injured her pelvis. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:15 | |
The accident has come as a terrible shock and she's worried about husband Ian. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:20 | |
He recently retired early because of a heart condition. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:24 | |
We're going to put a sling around your pelvis to make everything is fine with that before we move. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:29 | |
OK? It's going to be sore. And then we'll get you onto a hardboard and into the ambulance. OK, sweetheart? | 0:16:29 | 0:16:35 | |
They're taking Ian straight to Leeds General Infirmary. | 0:16:35 | 0:16:39 | |
If his lung has collapsed, his ability to take in oxygen will be seriously affected. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:44 | |
The last thing Lee wants is for that to be made worse by air sickness. | 0:16:44 | 0:16:49 | |
A little bit noisy, but if you start to feel really sick, let me know - | 0:16:50 | 0:16:54 | |
it's important that I know - by raising your hand up, OK? | 0:16:54 | 0:16:57 | |
Two patients - one will be transported by land. | 0:16:57 | 0:17:01 | |
It looks like the horserider has a fractured pelvis, | 0:17:01 | 0:17:04 | |
and certainly a fractured clavicle. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:06 | |
The gentleman that we've got is the cyclist whose wife has landed | 0:17:06 | 0:17:10 | |
on his head and pushed him off the bike cos the car spooked the horse. | 0:17:10 | 0:17:13 | |
We're going over to LGI to a neuro-centre and just let them do what they do best. | 0:17:13 | 0:17:18 | |
But at 150mph, Leeds General Infirmary is just 15 minutes away | 0:17:21 | 0:17:25 | |
and Ian will soon be undergoing tests on his back and lungs. | 0:17:25 | 0:17:28 | |
One, two, three. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:31 | |
All right, OK? We're on the helipad on top of the LGI now. | 0:17:31 | 0:17:35 | |
We're going to A&E. There'll be a few doctors asking questions. I'll hand over. | 0:17:35 | 0:17:39 | |
He's badly hurt, but he soon responds to treatment | 0:17:41 | 0:17:44 | |
and two days later, is sitting up in bed. | 0:17:44 | 0:17:47 | |
As I was looking over my shoulder, I noticed beyond my wife, | 0:17:47 | 0:17:50 | |
just some distance behind her, a car approaching at some speed. | 0:17:50 | 0:17:55 | |
And then as I turned to look ahead, | 0:17:55 | 0:17:58 | |
there was a kind of loud screeching noise and then I felt... | 0:17:58 | 0:18:03 | |
I could feel the horse in my back. | 0:18:05 | 0:18:07 | |
Well, I've got lacerations to my head and elbows and knees, | 0:18:08 | 0:18:13 | |
which I think are consistent with going onto the road. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:18 | |
I also have some fractured ribs | 0:18:18 | 0:18:21 | |
and a punctured lung. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:24 | |
Having several horses to look after means you can't afford to be ill for too long, | 0:18:25 | 0:18:30 | |
and within a few weeks, the Schofields are back in the paddock. | 0:18:30 | 0:18:34 | |
It's really great to be back. It was difficult in the first couple of weeks because obviously | 0:18:34 | 0:18:40 | |
we were still getting over the worst of our injuries, really. | 0:18:40 | 0:18:44 | |
As the weeks have gone by, we've managed to more mobile and active, | 0:18:46 | 0:18:49 | |
which means that we can work with the horses more than we did. | 0:18:49 | 0:18:52 | |
The Schofields moved from the city to their new home in the country to get away from traffic | 0:18:52 | 0:18:58 | |
and to indulge their love of animals. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:01 | |
But they've just discovered the dangers of rural roads the hard way. | 0:19:01 | 0:19:05 | |
Ian was knocked unconscious. I remember when it happened, | 0:19:05 | 0:19:08 | |
just lying at the side of the road | 0:19:08 | 0:19:11 | |
and seeing Ian lying there and I didn't know what had happened to him | 0:19:11 | 0:19:15 | |
so I just remember feeling really sore and sick, you know, injured. | 0:19:15 | 0:19:20 | |
I was in Harrogate Hospital and I went into the resus room in A&E. | 0:19:20 | 0:19:26 | |
They actually rang the LGI for me | 0:19:26 | 0:19:27 | |
while I was in there to see how he was. | 0:19:27 | 0:19:30 | |
That was a relief because I knew he was OK. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:32 | |
The accident's had one good result for the Schofields - | 0:19:32 | 0:19:36 | |
the neighbours have rallied round to help the newcomers. | 0:19:36 | 0:19:39 | |
Everyone around here knows us! They say, "Oh, you're the one on the bike and the horse." | 0:19:41 | 0:19:45 | |
Now let's return to the case of the ramblers attacked by a herd of cows in the Yorkshire Dales, | 0:19:57 | 0:20:01 | |
and one of them is lucky to be alive. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:04 | |
In a field in Nidderdale, a rambler is being prepared | 0:20:06 | 0:20:10 | |
for an emergency flight to hospital after a bizarre attack by a herd of cows. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:14 | |
-I got knocked out then. -You were for a bit, briefly. | 0:20:15 | 0:20:19 | |
-Not surprising, though. -Irene Pitham and her husband Mike were out for a walk | 0:20:21 | 0:20:25 | |
when their dog apparently spooked the animals. | 0:20:25 | 0:20:29 | |
We've always managed to anticipate what they were doing, | 0:20:29 | 0:20:32 | |
but these, the cows just ran straight at us. | 0:20:32 | 0:20:35 | |
They were obviously protecting their calves that they had, | 0:20:38 | 0:20:42 | |
but this being a standard footpath... | 0:20:42 | 0:20:45 | |
never thought that they would be that aggressive. | 0:20:45 | 0:20:48 | |
Irene's confused and showing the symptoms of a head injury. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:52 | |
-It looks like you came into close contact with a cow. -Oh, right. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:58 | |
It looks like it's thrown you in the air and obviously you've landed. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:02 | |
There's no major injuries. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:06 | |
You might have been knocked out, that's our main concern. | 0:21:06 | 0:21:09 | |
But you're coming round now, aren't you? | 0:21:09 | 0:21:11 | |
Your shoulder, we can't see any obvious fractures, | 0:21:11 | 0:21:14 | |
but you never know until you X-ray quite often. | 0:21:14 | 0:21:18 | |
Paramedic Al is trying to keep her spirits up with some humour. | 0:21:18 | 0:21:22 | |
When you get home tonight, Irene, get your own back by having a steak, love! | 0:21:23 | 0:21:27 | |
-I bet you could do without idiots like me, though. -I don't think you did anything! | 0:21:29 | 0:21:32 | |
Irene and her husband are on a break away from their home in Coventry. | 0:21:34 | 0:21:39 | |
They're staying at a holiday cottage in Nidderdale. | 0:21:39 | 0:21:42 | |
Now Irene's about to take an unscheduled trip to A&E in Harrogate. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:46 | |
It's two minutes since Tony explained what happened. | 0:21:47 | 0:21:51 | |
-What happened? I'm so sorry. -Don't worry. | 0:21:52 | 0:21:56 | |
But Irene's forgotten already. | 0:21:56 | 0:21:58 | |
What's happened is you were walking across a field of cows | 0:21:58 | 0:22:01 | |
with your dog and the cows had calves so I think | 0:22:01 | 0:22:04 | |
they've taken a bit of exception to your dog and charged you. | 0:22:04 | 0:22:08 | |
The flight to Harrogate will take just seven minutes. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:12 | |
This is the kind of countryside in which helicopters come into their own. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:15 | |
INDISTINCT RADIO COMMUNICATION | 0:22:18 | 0:22:21 | |
'Taking a break en route to Harrogate. Requesting service, please...' | 0:22:25 | 0:22:29 | |
The roads of the Dales are winding and crowded in the holiday season. | 0:22:29 | 0:22:33 | |
Helimed 99 can do 150 miles an hour, but it's not just speed that matters - | 0:22:33 | 0:22:38 | |
the smoothness of the flight will also be much more comfortable for Irene. | 0:22:38 | 0:22:43 | |
A trauma team is awaiting the chopper's arrival. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:51 | |
They've been warned Irene could have serious but as yet undiagnosed injuries. | 0:22:51 | 0:22:56 | |
She's been walking through a farmer's field with her husband and her dog. | 0:22:57 | 0:23:01 | |
There were a herd of cows. She can't remember what happened. | 0:23:01 | 0:23:05 | |
One of the cows headbutted her, threw her into the air, she's landed on the floor. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:09 | |
Injury-wise, all she's complaining of is pain localised to her left shoulder. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:15 | |
No obvious fracture or dislocation. | 0:23:15 | 0:23:18 | |
She's in pain. Initially scoring six out of ten. | 0:23:18 | 0:23:21 | |
You OK there, Irene? All right. | 0:23:21 | 0:23:23 | |
It's just a bit bumpy while we get you down to the hospital, OK. | 0:23:23 | 0:23:27 | |
Over the next 24 hours, | 0:23:27 | 0:23:28 | |
neurological tests will reveal the extent of Irene's injuries. | 0:23:28 | 0:23:33 | |
Back at their holiday cottage, | 0:23:33 | 0:23:35 | |
it'll be an anxious night for her husband Mike. | 0:23:35 | 0:23:38 | |
Back in the Derbyshire Peak District, mountain rescue teams | 0:23:49 | 0:23:52 | |
are trying to save a climber badly injured in a fall. | 0:23:52 | 0:23:55 | |
The helimed team can't reach her. | 0:23:55 | 0:23:57 | |
But the RAF are about to come to the rescue. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:00 | |
-Neil? -Yeah? -There's some gauze in my bag. -Gauze? -Yeah. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:06 | |
Stefanie Helmle needs to get to hospital fast. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:09 | |
She's fallen nearly 20 feet down a rocky gully in one of the most | 0:24:09 | 0:24:13 | |
remote parts of the Peak District. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:16 | |
The crew of Helimed 98 can't get to her. They're now at the top of the waterfall she's just tumbled down, | 0:24:16 | 0:24:21 | |
but their lifesaving kit could still make a difference. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:26 | |
Oxygen! | 0:24:26 | 0:24:27 | |
Yeah. We ain't going to get a cylinder down to him, are we? | 0:24:27 | 0:24:31 | |
If we drop it, there's a risk of explosion. | 0:24:33 | 0:24:35 | |
Stefanie's condition is getting worse. | 0:24:46 | 0:24:49 | |
Fluid's leaking from her ear | 0:24:49 | 0:24:50 | |
and it looks like she's fractured her skull in the fall. | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
We'll put a pelvic sling around your pelvis. I know you've got no pain there, | 0:24:53 | 0:24:58 | |
but because you've fallen, | 0:24:58 | 0:25:00 | |
you've banged your head so we're going to suspect that as well. | 0:25:00 | 0:25:04 | |
The paramedic from the mountain rescue team needs to stay with Stefanie on her trip to hospital. | 0:25:04 | 0:25:09 | |
So James Stubbley is first to be winched into the RAF's Sea King helicopter. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:13 | |
The downdraught created by the six-tonne helicopter is immense. | 0:25:20 | 0:25:24 | |
There's a real risk of loose rocks falling onto the rescuers, and onto their patient. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:29 | |
They need to get Stefanie out of the gully, and up to the helicopter. | 0:25:32 | 0:25:36 | |
The skill required to keep a helicopter stable in a situation like this is incredible. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:44 | |
But this is something the RAF continuously train for. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:48 | |
Carrying Stefanie out from this isolated mountainside could have | 0:25:50 | 0:25:54 | |
seriously worsened her injuries and would have taken more than an hour. | 0:25:54 | 0:25:58 | |
But, after this huge team effort, she'll be in hospital in minutes. | 0:25:58 | 0:26:03 | |
And Stefanie's no stranger to hospitals. | 0:26:06 | 0:26:09 | |
She works as a doctor in Cornwall, but is now on the receiving end | 0:26:09 | 0:26:14 | |
of treatment for a long list of injuries. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:16 | |
It's been strange to have the experience of being a patient rather than a doctor. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:22 | |
I have two skull fractures, I have a bleed inside my brain, | 0:26:24 | 0:26:28 | |
I have three fractured vertebrae. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:31 | |
I think I've also got six fractured ribs, and I've got a punctured lung. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:37 | |
It had been a summer walking holiday that had brought her to the Peak District. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:43 | |
And a moment's lapse in concentration that left her tumbling down the mountainside. | 0:26:43 | 0:26:48 | |
Paramedics are trained to treat every injury as potentially fatal, but caution saves lives. | 0:27:00 | 0:27:06 | |
And many patients are alive today | 0:27:06 | 0:27:08 | |
thanks to paramedics and doctors who played it safe. | 0:27:08 | 0:27:11 | |
On a moorland road high in the Pennines, | 0:27:13 | 0:27:15 | |
ice has caused a serious accident. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:18 | |
A midwife was driving to an early morning delivery | 0:27:18 | 0:27:21 | |
when her 4x4 skidded and overturned several times. | 0:27:21 | 0:27:24 | |
Helimed 99's on the case. | 0:27:26 | 0:27:27 | |
For the last half hour, off duty fireman Kelvin Steele has been holding Yasmin Smithson's head. | 0:27:34 | 0:27:39 | |
He's a first aid instructor, and that's what he's been trained to do. | 0:27:39 | 0:27:43 | |
It's in case she's hurt her spine. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:45 | |
Fortunately, we have a firefighter who's returning from duty | 0:27:45 | 0:27:49 | |
to home and he happened to come across to see. | 0:27:49 | 0:27:51 | |
He knows the procedures and protocols we follow | 0:27:51 | 0:27:54 | |
which has meant that the casualty's received the best care from the outset. | 0:27:54 | 0:28:00 | |
Paramedics Darren and Kate are also trained to treat every accident seriously, | 0:28:00 | 0:28:05 | |
but all the signs are this one's minor. | 0:28:05 | 0:28:09 | |
There's not any lower limb injuries. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:11 | |
Her legs are under the steering wheel. | 0:28:11 | 0:28:13 | |
-I don't think she's badly injured. -Just trapped? | 0:28:13 | 0:28:16 | |
Doesn't look as though there's too serious injuries. | 0:28:16 | 0:28:19 | |
It's just the mechanisms. | 0:28:19 | 0:28:21 | |
Just trying to get her leg unstuck by the steering wheel. | 0:28:21 | 0:28:24 | |
Now Yasmin's neck is protected by a surgical collar, | 0:28:24 | 0:28:28 | |
firelighter Kelvin can at last relax. | 0:28:28 | 0:28:31 | |
He was driving home from a night shift when he came across the accident. | 0:28:31 | 0:28:35 | |
I'm a trained casualty care instructor so I thought, | 0:28:35 | 0:28:38 | |
"Well, I'll do my bit." So I stepped in, | 0:28:38 | 0:28:40 | |
and you can see the road conditions aren't fantastic. | 0:28:40 | 0:28:45 | |
This is what can happen as a result of it. | 0:28:46 | 0:28:48 | |
We don't have extra eyes so we can't see inside. | 0:28:48 | 0:28:51 | |
We need to make sure that her care's done. | 0:28:51 | 0:28:54 | |
It might look extreme, but we need to do that | 0:28:55 | 0:28:58 | |
so nothing will catch us out later. | 0:28:58 | 0:29:00 | |
Let us do it, Yasmin, I'm just going to get your trousers, sweetheart. | 0:29:00 | 0:29:05 | |
Paramedics Darren and Kate are beginning to be suspicious | 0:29:05 | 0:29:08 | |
about what first seemed to be a minor injury. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:11 | |
Yasmin's in a lot of discomfort. | 0:29:11 | 0:29:13 | |
Hang on, darling, we'll just try and move you a little bit. | 0:29:13 | 0:29:18 | |
Ready, steady, slide. | 0:29:18 | 0:29:20 | |
Ahh! Ahh, ahh, ahh. | 0:29:20 | 0:29:22 | |
If someone can pull her hips, I can free her leg. | 0:29:22 | 0:29:25 | |
All right, guys. Can you help count, sweetheart? | 0:29:27 | 0:29:31 | |
-Ready? -Yeah. -Nice and easy. | 0:29:31 | 0:29:34 | |
Every paramedic's first rule is to treat for the worst | 0:29:34 | 0:29:36 | |
and hope for the best. | 0:29:36 | 0:29:39 | |
Yasmin's not going to be allowed to move her head until her neck | 0:29:39 | 0:29:42 | |
and spine have been X-rayed. | 0:29:42 | 0:29:44 | |
MUFFLED TALKING | 0:29:44 | 0:29:46 | |
Does it feel like the pain goes into the back of your shoulder blade? | 0:29:51 | 0:29:55 | |
Into your back? Just all down your arm, is it? | 0:29:55 | 0:29:58 | |
Yeah. | 0:29:58 | 0:30:01 | |
Yasmin's flown to hospital where she'll be scanned and X-rayed. | 0:30:01 | 0:30:06 | |
It's here that doctors make a shocking discovery... | 0:30:08 | 0:30:12 | |
Yasmin's neck is so badly broken, one move could have killed her. | 0:30:12 | 0:30:16 | |
Today, three months after the shunt, she's come to the fire station | 0:30:18 | 0:30:22 | |
where Kelvin is based to see him rewarded for saving her life. | 0:30:22 | 0:30:26 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:30:26 | 0:30:27 | |
He's being given a commendation for putting into practice | 0:30:27 | 0:30:30 | |
a first aid lesson that saved the local midwife. | 0:30:30 | 0:30:34 | |
I realised that it was quite bad | 0:30:35 | 0:30:38 | |
and when I tried to get out and I couldn't move, | 0:30:38 | 0:30:43 | |
I propped myself up and then just waited. Kelvin eventually arrived. | 0:30:43 | 0:30:49 | |
I spoke to her and she told me that she was a midwife on her way | 0:30:49 | 0:30:52 | |
to a delivery, which didn't help matters, really. | 0:30:52 | 0:30:55 | |
Gave me a little bit of angst. | 0:30:55 | 0:30:56 | |
And I said, "You'll understand why I'm maintaining this position." | 0:30:56 | 0:31:00 | |
Which is where you put your hands on the neck so they don't move. | 0:31:00 | 0:31:03 | |
I was probably a complete pain to him, | 0:31:03 | 0:31:07 | |
telling him I was absolutely fine, | 0:31:07 | 0:31:09 | |
but he insisted on just doing everything the correct way. | 0:31:09 | 0:31:14 | |
Yasmin's still recovering from the effects of her injury, | 0:31:14 | 0:31:18 | |
but she's living proof that basic first aid skills | 0:31:18 | 0:31:21 | |
can and do save lives. | 0:31:21 | 0:31:23 | |
'The consultant said that it's the worst neck fracture he's ever seen. | 0:31:24 | 0:31:28 | |
'If I'd have moved' | 0:31:28 | 0:31:30 | |
and if Kelvin hadn't done everything that he did, | 0:31:30 | 0:31:34 | |
I could've been paralysed from the neck down or I might have even died. | 0:31:34 | 0:31:40 | |
Yeah, so it literally saved my life. | 0:31:40 | 0:31:44 | |
Most sudden illnesses are minor. | 0:31:44 | 0:31:47 | |
But sometimes, unremarkable symptoms are the sign | 0:31:47 | 0:31:50 | |
of a deadly medical condition. | 0:31:50 | 0:31:53 | |
Golf is a game that's supposed to keep its players fit. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:57 | |
A good walk, good company and a bit of gentle exercise. | 0:31:57 | 0:32:02 | |
That's what Berkley Harrison was counting on, anyway. | 0:32:03 | 0:32:07 | |
Now, he's lying on the seventh green at Horsforth Golf Club in Leeds feeling unwell. | 0:32:07 | 0:32:11 | |
Did you actually lose consciousness? You did. | 0:32:11 | 0:32:14 | |
Flying doctor Jez Pinnell thinks Berkley may have heart trouble. | 0:32:14 | 0:32:19 | |
-Is your tummy sore? -Yeah. | 0:32:19 | 0:32:23 | |
He was complaining about his kidneys at one stage, down the side. | 0:32:23 | 0:32:26 | |
Helimed 98 is only here | 0:32:26 | 0:32:28 | |
because its patient collapsed less than a mile from its base. | 0:32:28 | 0:32:32 | |
I thought he had backache, cos he's had a bit of trouble with his back. | 0:32:32 | 0:32:36 | |
And then I came to see if it were all right | 0:32:36 | 0:32:39 | |
and he just sort of keeled over. | 0:32:39 | 0:32:41 | |
You've had some backache recently, have you? | 0:32:41 | 0:32:46 | |
Berkley's symptoms sound innocuous enough - | 0:32:46 | 0:32:48 | |
mild backache, but Jez's medical instincts are good. | 0:32:48 | 0:32:52 | |
Just swing him round and point his feet into that big door. | 0:32:52 | 0:32:56 | |
Berkley's leaving the links behind for a flight to Leeds General Infirmary. | 0:32:56 | 0:33:00 | |
It's just a precaution, but one that is to save his life. | 0:33:00 | 0:33:04 | |
On arrival, doctors find Berkley is bleeding to death internally | 0:33:06 | 0:33:10 | |
from a massive aortic aneurysm - | 0:33:10 | 0:33:13 | |
a hole in the main artery leading to his heart. | 0:33:13 | 0:33:15 | |
Surgeons plug it just in time. | 0:33:17 | 0:33:19 | |
When you arrive you always tell people that there's about a 50/50 | 0:33:19 | 0:33:22 | |
chance of surviving the surgery | 0:33:22 | 0:33:25 | |
and that's because at that stage | 0:33:25 | 0:33:27 | |
they've obviously got a low blood pressure | 0:33:27 | 0:33:29 | |
so they're at risk of having heart attacks and they've also lost | 0:33:29 | 0:33:32 | |
a huge amount of blood so they've lost all the normal clotting factors. | 0:33:32 | 0:33:36 | |
So even if you're successful in putting the device in, | 0:33:36 | 0:33:39 | |
they can... You're in a position where you can't stop the bleeding. | 0:33:39 | 0:33:42 | |
And a few days later, Berkley is sitting up in bed, | 0:33:43 | 0:33:47 | |
a man alive only because of his choice of golf course | 0:33:47 | 0:33:50 | |
and the instincts of a doctor. | 0:33:50 | 0:33:52 | |
I should have been dead. I think, from what I can gather... | 0:33:53 | 0:33:57 | |
From what I can gather, I would have been dead. | 0:33:57 | 0:34:00 | |
He was lucky in the fact that he had his rupture on a golf course | 0:34:00 | 0:34:04 | |
very close to Leeds Bradford Airport, | 0:34:04 | 0:34:06 | |
close to the ambulance, and he got into hospital | 0:34:06 | 0:34:09 | |
and to a centre which can provide emergency endovascular repair. | 0:34:09 | 0:34:13 | |
I'm only so grateful that I am, you know, | 0:34:13 | 0:34:16 | |
I am still able to talk to you here. | 0:34:16 | 0:34:18 | |
And the lads that flew the mission, thank them very much. | 0:34:18 | 0:34:26 | |
Few parts of the human body are more vulnerable in an accident | 0:34:27 | 0:34:30 | |
than the brain. | 0:34:30 | 0:34:32 | |
And even a relatively minor impact can have a devastating effect | 0:34:32 | 0:34:35 | |
on your life. | 0:34:35 | 0:34:36 | |
On the borders of Yorkshire and Lancashire, | 0:34:36 | 0:34:40 | |
a biker's come off on a bend. | 0:34:40 | 0:34:42 | |
Paramedic Paul Bradbury knows this kind of accident | 0:34:42 | 0:34:45 | |
can often be fatal. | 0:34:45 | 0:34:47 | |
Moorland roads are often narrow and lined by unyielding dry-stone walls. | 0:34:48 | 0:34:52 | |
We've been tasked to a detail, Horton in Craven, | 0:34:54 | 0:34:56 | |
it's on the outskirts of Skipton up in the Dales. | 0:34:56 | 0:34:59 | |
Got reports of an RTC involving a motorcycle and a car. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:03 | |
It could be anything from, you know, serious head injury, | 0:35:03 | 0:35:06 | |
spine injury and his chest, abdo injuries. | 0:35:06 | 0:35:09 | |
So, depending on what sort of injuries we've got, | 0:35:09 | 0:35:11 | |
then we'll ascertain which hospital he needs to go into. | 0:35:11 | 0:35:15 | |
Karl Bishop is 36. | 0:35:15 | 0:35:18 | |
He was out for a ride with a mate, | 0:35:18 | 0:35:20 | |
now, he's badly hurt. He wasn't wearing leathers | 0:35:20 | 0:35:23 | |
and his jeans have provided little protection to his leg. | 0:35:23 | 0:35:27 | |
It's badly damaged and so is his arm. | 0:35:27 | 0:35:29 | |
Howdie-doodie. How you going, you all right? | 0:35:30 | 0:35:33 | |
This is Karl, he's just come off that motorbike up there, | 0:35:33 | 0:35:36 | |
-as you can see. -Right, OK. | 0:35:36 | 0:35:37 | |
Now, main injuries he's complaining - his wrist | 0:35:37 | 0:35:40 | |
but also pain in his groin as well. | 0:35:40 | 0:35:42 | |
-OK. -He won't let anybody touch that leg. | 0:35:42 | 0:35:44 | |
The good news is Karl is awake and answering questions, | 0:35:44 | 0:35:47 | |
even if he is in a lot of pain. | 0:35:47 | 0:35:49 | |
Karl, I'm just going to have a feel round this leg, mate, tell me if it hurts. | 0:35:49 | 0:35:53 | |
I know, I'm not going to squeeze it. | 0:35:53 | 0:35:55 | |
He's been in and out of consciousness. | 0:35:55 | 0:35:57 | |
-When we got here, he didn't know where he is. -Have you got his helmet? | 0:35:57 | 0:36:00 | |
Damage to a biker's helmet can provide vital clues | 0:36:00 | 0:36:03 | |
to the force of the impact, | 0:36:03 | 0:36:05 | |
and whether he's likely to have a head injury. | 0:36:05 | 0:36:09 | |
Karl's isn't too badly damaged. It's good news. | 0:36:09 | 0:36:11 | |
Can we straighten your leg at all, Karl? | 0:36:12 | 0:36:15 | |
Eh? | 0:36:15 | 0:36:18 | |
If I support it, Karl, I'll do it really slowly, tell me if it hurts. | 0:36:18 | 0:36:22 | |
HE CRIES OUT IN PAIN | 0:36:22 | 0:36:24 | |
The emergency services here are used to bikers being injured | 0:36:24 | 0:36:27 | |
but this doesn't appear to be the worst case they've dealt with. | 0:36:27 | 0:36:30 | |
Can you feel me touching you? Lovely, good lad. | 0:36:30 | 0:36:33 | |
Karl, I'm going to put a splint on this arm, mate, cos you've broken it. | 0:36:33 | 0:36:36 | |
All right. | 0:36:36 | 0:36:38 | |
Ahh! | 0:36:38 | 0:36:40 | |
Sorry, Karl, I know it's hurting you, mate. | 0:36:40 | 0:36:42 | |
It's time to get Karl to hospital, | 0:36:42 | 0:36:45 | |
but first he's got to be strapped to a rigid spinal stretcher. | 0:36:45 | 0:36:49 | |
It's a routine precaution. | 0:36:49 | 0:36:51 | |
Put the arms across here, just there, and just be careful around there cos obviously he's... | 0:36:51 | 0:36:55 | |
-All we're going to do is just roll him across. -Keep sucking. | 0:36:55 | 0:36:59 | |
And back and roll, ready, brace, roll. | 0:36:59 | 0:37:01 | |
Karl, keep sucking that. | 0:37:01 | 0:37:03 | |
As well as a badly damaged leg, | 0:37:03 | 0:37:05 | |
paramedic Paul fears Karl has fractured his pelvis. | 0:37:05 | 0:37:09 | |
That can lead to severe internal bleeding. | 0:37:09 | 0:37:12 | |
But this strap should prevent further damage. | 0:37:12 | 0:37:15 | |
Let's get this on. Go on, some more deep breaths. | 0:37:15 | 0:37:20 | |
Yeah, it's clicked in. | 0:37:23 | 0:37:25 | |
Paul's assessed Karl's injuries using the Glasgow Coma Scale. | 0:37:26 | 0:37:30 | |
The lower the number, the more serious the patient's condition. | 0:37:30 | 0:37:34 | |
15 is fully alert. | 0:37:34 | 0:37:36 | |
The gentleman's now got GCS between 14 and 15, he's quite vague. | 0:37:36 | 0:37:40 | |
Got a compound right wrist, could be a fractured femur, | 0:37:40 | 0:37:44 | |
could be a fractured pelvis. His obs are reasonable at the moment. | 0:37:44 | 0:37:48 | |
Just going into the air craft, we'll lift in about 10-15 minutes, | 0:37:48 | 0:37:51 | |
I just want to give everyone a heads up. | 0:37:51 | 0:37:53 | |
Karl, put that back in your mouth, mate. Suck on that. | 0:37:56 | 0:38:00 | |
That's it, long, deep breaths. | 0:38:00 | 0:38:02 | |
Karl will be in hospital in ten minutes. | 0:38:06 | 0:38:08 | |
His vital signs are good, even though his broken bones | 0:38:08 | 0:38:11 | |
will take months to heal. | 0:38:11 | 0:38:13 | |
Obviously his wrist is giving him quite a lot of stick at the moment, | 0:38:13 | 0:38:17 | |
so we'll keep topping him up on morphine and I think this craft | 0:38:17 | 0:38:20 | |
should get him there without too much trouble. | 0:38:20 | 0:38:22 | |
Obviously, the big injury he's got, is he's potentially got a pelvic injury and if he bleeds out | 0:38:22 | 0:38:27 | |
from his pelvis, he could lose blood volume quite quickly. | 0:38:27 | 0:38:30 | |
Doctors at Blackburn Royal are waiting to assess Karl, | 0:38:31 | 0:38:34 | |
and it's just as well. | 0:38:34 | 0:38:36 | |
His condition deteriorates | 0:38:36 | 0:38:39 | |
and he's quickly transferred to intensive care. | 0:38:39 | 0:38:42 | |
For three days, he's on life support. | 0:38:42 | 0:38:45 | |
It's two weeks before he's well enough to return to a normal ward. | 0:38:45 | 0:38:49 | |
Ten months later and he's come to see the Helimed team, | 0:38:49 | 0:38:54 | |
the paramedics he credits with saving his life. | 0:38:54 | 0:38:57 | |
-What did you do to the femur on that side? -I didn't break it, I've snapped all the ligaments in my knee. | 0:38:57 | 0:39:02 | |
There's nothing holding my knee together. | 0:39:02 | 0:39:04 | |
But there's another reason Karl's come. | 0:39:04 | 0:39:07 | |
Having all but returned from the brink of death, | 0:39:07 | 0:39:09 | |
he has lost two weeks of his life. | 0:39:09 | 0:39:12 | |
He has no memory of the day leading up to the accident | 0:39:12 | 0:39:15 | |
or the smash itself. | 0:39:15 | 0:39:17 | |
Now he's about to find out what he's missed. | 0:39:17 | 0:39:20 | |
That hurts more than anything. | 0:39:20 | 0:39:22 | |
To actually see my bike sat there on the floor, | 0:39:22 | 0:39:26 | |
knowing how broken that was, and thinking how broken I still am. | 0:39:26 | 0:39:30 | |
You know, I will get better eventually | 0:39:31 | 0:39:34 | |
but this will affect me for the rest of my life. | 0:39:34 | 0:39:37 | |
Karl now faces further surgery, | 0:39:37 | 0:39:40 | |
including a transplant to replace the damaged ligaments | 0:39:40 | 0:39:43 | |
around his knee. | 0:39:43 | 0:39:44 | |
But he still has a long road to recovery ahead. | 0:39:44 | 0:39:47 | |
I'm just grateful to be here. | 0:39:47 | 0:39:49 | |
I mean, the amount of injuries I had, it's unusual. | 0:39:49 | 0:39:53 | |
And I did come close to leaving my family. | 0:39:55 | 0:39:58 | |
The people who came back from the dead, against the odds. | 0:40:03 | 0:40:06 | |
Now, let's return to the case of another patient whose injuries | 0:40:06 | 0:40:10 | |
are life threatening. | 0:40:10 | 0:40:12 | |
24 hours ago, Mike Pitham set off from this holiday cottage | 0:40:14 | 0:40:16 | |
with his wife Irene and dog Cassie | 0:40:16 | 0:40:19 | |
on a hike through the Yorkshire Dales. | 0:40:19 | 0:40:21 | |
There's a good girl. | 0:40:21 | 0:40:23 | |
But soon after they stopped to take souvenir snaps, | 0:40:23 | 0:40:25 | |
the walk ended with Irene seriously injured, | 0:40:25 | 0:40:28 | |
and her husband struggling to take in the reality of a rare, | 0:40:28 | 0:40:32 | |
but potentially lethal attack, by a herd of cows. | 0:40:32 | 0:40:35 | |
I think in some respects, I just kicked straight into automatic | 0:40:35 | 0:40:39 | |
preservation mode, more than anything. | 0:40:39 | 0:40:42 | |
My fear was they were going to trample on her, as well, | 0:40:42 | 0:40:45 | |
because she was now lying on the floor and couldn't get away. | 0:40:45 | 0:40:48 | |
And I was very calm right up until | 0:40:48 | 0:40:50 | |
I got back here and then it was a case of... | 0:40:50 | 0:40:53 | |
Well, I suppose, emotion. | 0:40:53 | 0:40:55 | |
The feeling I had was total panic that she'd actually died. | 0:40:56 | 0:41:01 | |
I thought that they'd killed her because she went up so high | 0:41:01 | 0:41:05 | |
and then hit the ground and then didn't move at all. | 0:41:05 | 0:41:08 | |
Come on, Cassie, come on. | 0:41:08 | 0:41:09 | |
Today, Mike's off to Harrogate Hospital to visit Irene | 0:41:09 | 0:41:12 | |
and find out the results of her medical tests. | 0:41:12 | 0:41:15 | |
He knows she's suffered a dislocated shoulder. | 0:41:15 | 0:41:18 | |
But it's feared she may also have a serious head injury. | 0:41:18 | 0:41:22 | |
-Hello. -Hello, how are you? | 0:41:22 | 0:41:24 | |
-I'm all right. How's you? You all right? -Yes, are you? -No. | 0:41:24 | 0:41:30 | |
I want all the gory details. Cos I don't remember a thing. | 0:41:33 | 0:41:38 | |
I don't even remember the cows. | 0:41:38 | 0:41:40 | |
The good news is Irene has suffered little more than serious concussion. | 0:41:41 | 0:41:46 | |
She's been very lucky. | 0:41:46 | 0:41:48 | |
It was just such a blank, I just didn't know anything. | 0:41:48 | 0:41:52 | |
You know, I just woke up in hospital and that was it. | 0:41:52 | 0:41:55 | |
But we're walkers, so we are aware that, you know, this time of year, | 0:41:55 | 0:41:59 | |
with calves and things, you know, that it can be dangerous | 0:41:59 | 0:42:04 | |
but I think we were still on the Nidderdale Way, as far as I know. | 0:42:04 | 0:42:08 | |
So, it's quite a well-walked path. | 0:42:08 | 0:42:11 | |
Obviously one of these cows just got a little bit upset. | 0:42:11 | 0:42:14 | |
And Irene thinks, in some ways, she's the lucky one of the couple. | 0:42:14 | 0:42:18 | |
I think it will affect him more, because I have no recollection. | 0:42:18 | 0:42:24 | |
but I think... I don't think Mike will go into a field of cows in future. | 0:42:24 | 0:42:28 | |
I'll be a little bit more wary, especially if there's calves around. | 0:42:28 | 0:42:33 | |
I might not want to take the dog in the field. | 0:42:33 | 0:42:36 | |
And I'm pleased to say Irene's now well on the road to recovery | 0:42:36 | 0:42:41 | |
and planning another stay in the Dales. | 0:42:41 | 0:42:43 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:42:54 | 0:42:57 | |
E-mail [email protected] | 0:42:57 | 0:43:01 |