Episode 11 Helicopter Heroes

If you are critically ill or seriously injured, seconds count,

and in Britain's biggest county, you can be a long way from help.

Where's the patient? I'm stuck under the car!

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance flies at 150mph

and thanks to its speed, hundreds of patients are alive today,

saved by a highly skilled team of doctors and paramedics.

Stand clear, everybody. Keep going, mate!

It covers some of the UK's most rugged landscapes,

turning roadsides into operating theatres...

We're going to put him to sleep with an emergency anaesthetic, OK?

..and town centres into helipads. All good on the left?

I'm just behind you, Tim.

And every day the helimed team's skill,

speed and courage is saving lives.

Today, on Helicopter Heroes...

a serious accident leaves a couple critically injured

and all he cares about is her. He's upset about his girlfriend.

He hit the wall, stood up, walked across.

A breakdown man is crushed...

A patient with those sorts of injuries can bleed very quickly.

SIREN SOUNDS

The real-life Railway Children get into trouble.

We were just climbing a tree and the branches snapped

and she just fell out.

When there's a road accident, ambulance crews often treat victims

who are more concerned about their injured love ones

than they are about themselves.

That can lead to terrible dilemmas for patients and paramedics alike.

In the small town of Wath-Upon-Dearne

in the South Yorkshire coalfield,

there's been a very serious accident.

Motorcyclist Gordon Stanton was out

for a ride with his fiancee Kirsty Grainger

when their bike was in a collision with a car.

'Helipad 99, update from scene.

'There's two patients, one with a spinal injury.

'You go, go, go, all the way.'

The couple were on their way to a local shopping centre

when the accident happened. Going to make an approach to the field first.

The crew, which today includes A doctor James Milligan,

is used to dealing with crashed cars and bikes.

But they are taken aback by the tangled wreckage at this scene.

That's the bike? Yeah.

That's been well smashed, hasn't it? Uh-huh.

The force of the impact with the car

has hurled the couple 20 metres down the busy main road

in the Wath-Upon-Dearne.

Hiya. We've got Dr James Milligan here. Hello.

20-year-old Kirsty was the pillion passenger with this fella. OK.

Coming along, the car's turned, he's doing about 40 mph on the bend. Yeah.

Kirsty's come off... Yeah.

..he's more or less bounced into the wall, but he's got up

and walked and landed there. OK. OK, no loss of consciousness. Yeah.

But she's having no feeling or pins and needles from there down. OK.

20-year-old Kirsty hasn't moved since.

Hiya, I'm James, one of the doctors, is it Kirsty? Yeah.

Is it hurting you anywhere at the minute? She says it is.

Lying beside Kirsty is her boyfriend, 21-year-old Gordon.

Where is it hurting you at the minute, big man?

The back. Your back. The back.

He too is seriously injured,

but he got up after the crash and walked across to Kirsty

before collapsing next to her.

You remember everything that's happened, don't you?

I was just driving and I just saw him walk across and fall on the road,

I just pulled up and came out, and he's crying,

he was upset and he's upset about his girlfriend.

Apparently, he hit the wall, stood up and walked across, he said...

So, I don't know.

Which way were you going, towards the college or back towards...?

Towards college. Paramedic Dave's using his local knowledge

to piece together the events that led to the crash.

He lives just down the road.

I couldn't slow down... You've gone into the car, have you?

Yeah, but he was on my side of the road! All right, mate,

don't get yourself upset about it. He pulled out on me!

It's all right, lovey, it's OK.

Gordon is very worried about his girlfriend lying next to him.

He's right to be. She has some very worrying symptoms.

Can you wiggle your toes for me?

You can't feel your feet at all. OK.

All right. Can you move your legs at all?

No. OK.

The loss of feeling below her waist

suggests spinal damage in her lower back.

And Dr James needs to find exactly where the damage is

before they attempt to move her.

Now, I'm just going to have a little feel of your tummy.

And you tell me if there's feeling. I'll start quite high up.

I feel that. You feel that?

Feels normal, does it? Yeah. OK.

So, about here feels a bit funny?

Tingles. Just tingles, does it?

They both need to get to hospital soon,

but only one can go by helicopter.

Dr James has a decision to make that could affect this young couple

for the rest of their lives.

You expect paramedics to have advanced medical skills,

but these days it takes a whole lot more

to be a member of the emergency services.

Most ambulance trusts now have their own specialist rescue teams

and if you're trapped and if you're in danger,

having a trained medic beside you is priceless.

Helimed 99 is circling the scene

of a major incident in the Pennine town of Keighley.

There are loads of people below us.

Yeah, that's the incident, isn't it, Tim?

Below, specialist firefighters

and the ambulance service's own medical rescue team

are fighting to free a man trapped beneath a breakdown truck.

He's getting out of the vehicle, the handbrake hasn't been on

and he's sort of been crushed between the wall

and the vehicle as the vehicle has moved down the hill.

Paramedics and firefighters have set aside a place

for the helicopter to land.

I'm thinking that road down the side there, Tim, that's shut off,

that's where he's wanting us to land.

Between the trees and the building. Pilot Tim Taylor

has landed in some extremely tight spaces,

but this time, even he is having to think again.

That is where they wanted us to go in.

They'll have to trim the trees. Yeah.

I think we're going to have to have some spread on here, because...

We can land in that waste ground, but if it's purely an access issue,

then land vehicles will need to bring him around. Yeah. Helimed 99

landing on the scene now, we can't land on the road,

it's too tight, so we'll be landing on adjoining streets.

Today, emergency doctor Andy Poutney

is flying with the helimed team and his skills will be put to the test.

Let's have a little look and see what we think.

Can I come in and get a little look at him?

We might not be able to get him on the stretcher. OK, how was he lying?

Where is he? He's on his right side.

Iftikhar Hussain was about to set off to rescue a stranded motorist

when he got trapped by his own truck.

He's jumped out, the handbrake wasn't on

and it started rolling and he tried to get back in... Yeah.

I don't know if he's managed to dive out of the way or anything,

but he's caught his pelvis... Right.

..so, the crews that are underneath at the moment,

are thinking that he's got a pelvis injury. How will we get him out?

We're not going to get him under...

We're unable to get access to get him out at the moment,

so we're just trying to stabilise him under there.

Dr Andy normally gets to assess his patients in a comfortable hospital.

Today couldn't be more different.

Watch your back there, Ned, because...

Could the lorry not get reversed?

Swing the wheels round, reverse back and create a space at the front?

We've already tried it and it drags it back.

You can't get any sort of leverage on it. Right.

We weren't happy about moving it, because it's so tightly wedged in.

To bring it out, would judder it.

There's a chance of trapping him or... Yeah.

Obviously, there's been a problem with the vehicle,

or else it wouldn't have rolled. We're not happy with the brakes, which is why we've chopped it.

He could have sustained serious internal injuries.

Obviously we need to be cautious

because a patient with those sort of injuries can bleed very quickly

and deteriorate as a result of that.

Iftikhar can't just be pulled free, but the longer he's under the truck

the more chance there is of his internal injuries getting worse.

We're going to try and come around through this gap, feet first, here.

He needs urgent hospital care and the longer he's under here,

the more his life is in danger.

If you read some of the papers,

you'd think today's kids had forgotten how to play.

But almost every day, the helimed team sees evidence

that the next generation still knows how to climb trees

and get into trouble,

even if their adventures end up in A

It's like travelling back in time.

TRAIN HORN SOUNDS

The unique sounds, forgotten smells

and elegant engineering of the railways have been brought back to life

in this community project near Huddersfield.

It's all a reminder of the Age of Steam.

It has become a playground for a new generation

of Railway Children. Some ride on the trains,

others play in the woods that line the tracks.

We were just, like, up in the tree. I wasn't expecting it to snap.

We were kind of like all stood on the same branch

and then it kind of just fell.

'Any more on the little one?'

'Yeah, she's definitely broken her leg. Yeah.'

She's fallen out of a tree, hit a branch on the way down and bust her leg.

I don't know how far further she's fallen, so... Yeah.

Paramedic John Baxter is no stranger to adventure,

and encourages his own kids to go exploring.

I fell out of a few trees myself when I was a young lad.

It's how it goes, isn't it?

He still keeps falling out of trees! I was going to say, yeah.

It accounts for so much.

You don't get a face like without a few bruises along the way!

It's character building, anyway.

She's fallen from this branch here.

Her lower right leg is fractured. Right.

We were down here because this is what we call our treehouse,

because it's just down from our house.

Well, we were just sort of playing

and we were just climbing a tree one minute,

when the branch sort of snapped, and she just fell out.

She's fallen off the branch, the one that's snapped? Yeah. Oh, dear.

Did you land... How did you come out when you landed, what happened?

I think I landed, like, straight on my knee. Did you?

On your leg. She tried to get herself up

but she didn't manage, so I helped her up,

and she started saying, "I've broken my leg.

"I won't able to go on the school trip."

She was a bit worried.

Well, she sort of panicked and once she started to panic,

she started saying, "Oh, no!" We're supposed to be going on an adventure next week

with school and she was like, "No, I can't go," and just really upset.

Have you been in this position since it happened?

It's clear Jessica has broken her leg. It's the right leg, Graham.

Right tib and fib. She'd landed on her knee

and she'd bent her leg back.

Alex felt it and says it does feel a bit funny. A bit funny.

A bit funny, yeah.

If she was an adult, the paramedics would give her morphine,

but at her age, there's another option.

Squirt it in nice and slowly.

A squirt of Calpol should help numb the pain

so they can straighten her fractured leg.

We'll give you another one as well. Does it taste nice? Yeah.

The other thing we're going to give you,

we're going to give you something to breathe in, OK,

and every time you breathe it in, it takes the pain away

so you have to take it for a bit, but it can make you a bit dizzy.

Both of them climbed a bit too far and too high together

and the branch couldn't take it and obviously gave way.

You keep taking that. How does that feel? I want to pass out.

Don't worry. You won't do, probably.

You won't do. They love it down here.

They build dens, and explore, yeah, they love it,

they love it, all of them. Can you go around that side, Paul,

and I'll get her from this side.

I've got her, I've got her now. Are you all right? Yeah.

All right.

That it's, sweetheart, well done. Well done, awesome.

With Jessica's leg now secured in a splint, her day of adventure

is about to step up a gear with a flight

in Helimed 99 for both her and her mum.

It's a short flight to Huddersfield hospital

and while Jessica's leg will soon be treated, she's more concerned

about what it will mean for her future adventures.

She's meant to be going to Castleton with school on Wednesday,

so we'll have to see how it goes,

because I don't think she will be going to Castleton, bless her,

but I'm sure there will be many more trips that she can enjoy.

So, still smiling but with her adventures on hold,

she's taken in for an X-ray.

And the result IS the break which the paramedics suspected.

I've had to have an operation and they said

that I would have to... I've got a pin in

and they said I'd have to have another one to take the pin out.

I've been recovering well, I think, I've been drinking milk

and going back to the hospital and getting my pot changed and things.

Shall we wave? Yeah, wave to the train.

But it's clear Jessica is a girl who won't be put off

and is looking forward to carrying on exploring with her friends.

Being stuck inside is a bit boring,

just trapped in, but outside is like...

it's really good and adventurous.

Back to South Yorkshire now,

where it's feared a crash could have serious consequences

for Gordon and Kirsty, two bikers thrown 20 metres down the road

after an impact with a car.

The young couple's short trip out to buy some milkshakes

has ended in this. It's very early stages

in relation to the investigation.

We've got our collision investigation team here

and they will piece together what's happened. Kirsty was riding pillion

and thrown 20 metres down the road,

landing on her back. We'll get you sorted in two ticks.

We need to do a few bits and get you on a special board

and then we'll get you down to hospital and warm you up a wee bit.

She hasn't moved since and has no feeling below her waist.

Because she's not able to complain of pain, then, yeah...

Paramedic Sammy thinks she may have broken her pelvis -

pain Kirsty can't feel.

I'm going to pull it tight across your hips, Kirsty, love. All right?

They need to move Kirsty very carefully.

One, two, three, roll.

That's it, that's it.

And when they begin to move her,

boyfriend Gordon reacts badly...

No! Well done. All right.

Is that your leg? No!

Is it cos they're moving her onto another board?

Just relax. Take it easy.

The crew would like to fly both patients

but Helimed 99 can only carry one

and Dr James decides Kirsty's injuries are the more serious.

She's coming with us? Yeah.

Gordon, too, has serious injuries,

but he is refusing to take any pain relief.

Are you sure you still wouldn't like some gas and air? No, I'm sure.

It seems whilst Kirsty is around,

he wants to keep a clear head. Well done.

Have you ever been in helicopter before, Kirsty? No.

Paramedic Sammy knows her patient could have spinal shock,

bruising to the spinal cord from which she may recover.

I'm going to be sat right at the side of you, all right?

If not, she's probably permanently paralysed.

Brilliant.

Dr James still has to deal with boyfriend Gordon.

He's going to go by land ambulance.

Can I have a quick look at this arm? Straighten it out for us.

Straighten it out for us. Is that your elbow?

Sammy has to answer an awkward question.

Why can't I feel anything?

Well, you might have bumped your back, and that's why it's hurting

and that's why we'll take you to the hospital and get you checked out.

Just before they take off, another problem emerges.

How are we doing? My chest really hurts. Your chest?

Feels like it's being squeezed.

At the back or at the front? All around. All around.

Kirsty's blood pressure is dropping fast.

It could be she is bleeding internally and that could be fatal.

Big deep breath in for me...

And out.

You're getting lots of air into those lungs of yours,

I know it feels a bit funny, but it's just...

because you're strapped down nice and tight to this board, all right?

You're still good to the left here.

Both young patients leave the crash site at the same time -

Gordon by land ambulance and Kirsty in Helimed 99.

What we've tried to do is stabilise her back as best we can,

we've given her some good strong painkiller

and we're taking her to the Northern General in Sheffield,

where hopefully the spinal surgeons can take over from there.

The helicopter is nice and smooth and won't hit bumps

and jolts you may get on the road.

They will also get her into A as quickly as possible,

in case there are any other injuries that we haven't yet noticed.

Within minutes, Kirsty arrives at Sheffield's Northern General Hospital.

The helimed crew's patient knows that the hospital spinal team

is waiting for her and that she will find out soon

whether the feeling in her legs is ever going to return.

In the Pennine town of Keighley,

the tense operation to free a man trapped beneath a recovery truck

is reaching a crucial stage.

Can you go forward?

31-year-old Iftikhar Hussain has serious injuries

and is losing consciousness.

Currently, he's getting immobilised underneath the vehicle

and he'll be brought out where we will do a proper assessment of him

and we'll probably fly him to Leeds General. He's had quite an impact

and it sounds like his pelvis is the area that has taken the brunt

of the weight of the vehicle. He's on his right side.

So, he's slid out on the gap I was laid on.

So, I'll go back under, take the bottom half and pull it through.

Iftikhar's workmates are in shock.

He'll be coming out shortly.

He's got a pelvic binder on as well.

Eventually, and with the help of some specialist rescue gear,

he's pulled free.

Now is the first time his injuries can be properly assessed.

Take a deep breath for me.

That's great. A couple more deep breaths.

Keep your head still for me.

Is that hurting? Yeah. All right. How are your legs feeling?

Can you bring your toes up towards us?

I can't feel them. Deep breath. You can't feel your legs?

He was in a lot of pain when I arrived, really distressed,

just wanted to get out of there, but we had to wait. There was no way to get him out

until everybody arrived, so he's in quite a lot of pain.

Have we got anything obvious, other than what he said there?

Is he moving all his limbs fine? No.

He is a little bit disorientated. His eyes are closed

until you talk to him.

It's clear he's got a fractured pelvis, an injury

that can quickly lead to problems with the internal organs.

Although the closest hospital to here is Bradford,

because of his injuries, Iftikhar is being flown

straight to the regional trauma centre in Leeds.

He was working on an industrial estate. Basically the cab of an HGV

has crushed him against a wall. It apparently accidentally

moved just before the ambulance crew got there, which released him,

but he's been trapped between a wall and the HGV,

so access has been difficult. We've been underneath the HGV to get him out.

There's a few areas of concern - he's almost certainly broken his collarbone on the left,

he was very tender over his spleen and his pelvis was very tender,

so he's got three significant, potentially significant,

left-side injuries. So he's going to go for a CT scan now,

which will have a look at those areas and give more information.

Over the next few hours,

surgeons battle to reconstruct Iftikhar's pelvis.

Though his injuries are severe, he has youth and fitness on his side.

Three months on, he's been transferred to a hospital nearer his home.

But he knows he's lucky to have survived a freak accident

that could easily have killed him.

Now...back to the heartbreaking case

of Kirsty and Gordon,

the bikers seriously injured in a smash in South Yorkshire.

With no feeling below her waist, 21-year-old Kirsty seems to be

becoming increasingly aware that she could be very badly injured.

Are my legs on something to keep them floating?

They're just nice and comfy, laid on this stretcher.

I know it's a bit hard at the top, isn't it?

The hospital's spinal injuries team

has been alerted to Kirsty's arrival.

Doctors are waiting to assess her.

The actual bike itself,

it's an absolute mess.

So, the potential is there for them both to have

bad spinal injuries.

Kirsty's parents are on their way to Sheffield

to be with their daughter.

They are told they must wait for the scan results.

Everyone is hoping that they will show that her paralysis

is temporary, and that she will walk out of hospital.

The X-rays tell a different story.

If you look there, this is a big fracture

and dislocation of the spine. So, the upper part of her spine

has actually completely gone off

from the lower part of her spine.

So, if you look at a spine model, here.

So, it was actually a fracture in this vertebrate here, and,

if you look, there's the spinal-cord and the nerves coming out here.

Now, of course, this disrupted the whole spine

at that level of the injury.

In Kirsty's case, it's still very early on

to predict exactly what will happen.

But at the moment,

she's not showing any signs of any significant recovery.

Some would buckle under the news that it's unlikely that they will

ever walk again, but just two weeks after hearing those words,

Kirsty chooses a very different approach.

I think I'm paralysed

from there downwards, at the minute.

And it's finding out whether

I will or won't walk again, so...

But I've got no feeling in my legs at the minute.

It could've been worse, I could have lost my arms.

I'm quite lucky to have feeling in my arms,

and stuff like that, so...

I'm happy about that. At least I've got them.

After the accident, Kirsty's boyfriend Gordon scrambled

to his feet before collapsing next to her.

We're just going to be moving her onto another board.

He tried to help her then, but couldn't. Now he can.

Taxi's not here. Oh, here it is.

Gordon had a list of injuries of his own,

but the day after the accident

he discharged himself from hospital, so he could be with Kirsty.

Don't pull that face, when I can't see where I'm going. It scares me.

And today, he's planned a trip out to the shops.

Look at the handbag in there. Push me up.

This really is retail therapy.

I like that top, as well. That top would look nice with my jeans.

It's nice to get out from hospital.

Nice to just go away for a bit, and take it off your mind.

Just to get rid of thoughts of it.

It's heartbreaking,

knowing that everything has to change now.

We've just got to learn to deal

with everything in a new way, now.

But it's hard.

I've got used to it, now.

It's just this brace that attracts a lot of attention.

And being in my chair. I feel like they're looking, but...

She obviously likes me to help her do some things,

but she doesn't want me to care for her.

She doesn't want me there to do that, she wants me to

be her partner, and do things that we enjoy, and be happy together.

She don't want us to become, like, friends,

and fall apart sort of thing.

And I don't want that either. So, I want whatever's best for us.

Gordon and Kirsty have been together for six years, since they were 15.

4,499. Well expensive, that.

They got engaged six months before the accident.

I like that one.

She wanted a very expensive engagement ring,

which I couldn't afford, so I had to go for a cheaper option.

She smiled for days, and she said "yeah".

Which is the main thing.

Kirsty's doctors have said that her will

and positive attitude will help her

overcome the many difficulties

that she undoubtedly faces.

And in her mind, her next objective is clear.

Getting back to my old self will be good.

It'll just be minus my legs,

but I'll still be the same, I'll not change.

She'll never give in.

I'm looking forward to just

going home.

And I'm pleased to say Kirsty is doing well with her physiotherapy,

and looking positively towards her future with Gordon.