Episode 2 Helicopter Heroes

If you're 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?'

-'Stuck under the car.'

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance flies at 150 miles an hour,

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.'

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

turning roadsides into operating theatres...

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

..and town centres into helipads.

-'Building on the left.'

-'Just behind you, Tim.'

And every day, the helimed team's skill,

speed and courage is saving lives.

Today on Helicopter Heroes...

Paramedic James risks his life

to reach an injured man in a raging river.

If the patients get cold,

they can get all sorts of associated complications.

This car's just crashed and a little girl is trapped under it.

I just saw something through the corner of my eye, looked,

and there was a car flying through the air and it landed on top of her.

There is a freak accident down on the farm.

He's kind of fallen out of the man basket. An air ambulance is here.

And the team answers an injured vicar's prayers.

She's twisted her ankle. She heard it crack.

This spectacular scenery of the Yorkshire Dales

has always attracted tourists.

Millions come here to enjoy the views,

the wildlife and the quaint market towns.

But for all its beauty, this is a dangerous place,

especially if you've come for adventure.

Your arms across your chest, legs together, big drop into the pool.

This is the latest extreme sport.

It's called canyoning.

And the treacherous rivers of the Yorkshire Dales

are where it's played.

Jumping up to 20 feet and allowing yourself

to be carried downstream in fast-flowing water is exciting,

but dangerous.

And even experts can be caught out.

'Reports are coming in via ambulance control that, apparently,

'someone has jumped in the river and has sustained a fracture of the leg.'

Their patient's stranded at the bottom of a steep ravine.

Out of sight, around this rock, mountain rescue experts

are trying to save John Finney, who was canyoning with his sons

when he slipped and plunged down a rock face.

Paramedic James Vine spent two years working in Australia,

where he became well-versed in the dangers of rescuing

the victims of watersports accidents.

-Dr Nick Howlett's with the casualty now.

-OK.

Just straight down here, over the edge. It's very steep.

It's a long way down, and they're going to have to be careful

if they're not to share their patient's predicament.

The rescue is attracting a lot of attention.

-I'm one of the air ambulance doctors.

-He's got an open fracture.

A broken bone is sticking out of the man's leg.

It's a very serious injury.

The rescuers know the local rocks are lethal when wet,

and they're taking no chances.

It's just round the corner here, we can't see him from here

and I'm not going to go and clamber up on the rocks

and get in these chaps' way. They're obviously doing a good job,

they've done this plenty of times,

the last thing they need is us getting in the way of them.

So we'll wait till they get him out, and then we'll take over the care.

These rivers roar out of the network of caves

which honeycombs the Dales.

Never warmed by the sun, their waters

rarely get above 10 degrees Celsius.

Flying doctor Simon Ward is concerned.

I presume that his head's out of the water,

so we're not looking at a drowning as such,

but we'd be concerned with hypothermia really.

Even though it's at the end of summer,

the water is going to be very cold at this time of year

and fast flowing, so it doesn't have a chance to warm up.

When patients get cold, they can get all sorts of

associated complications so, really, we want to try and do things

as quickly and safely as possible.

John's rescuers have secured him to the rock face where he fell,

but he's still up to his waist in water.

Paramedic James is also concerned for the safety of the rescue team.

Obviously the gentleman's on the slack water on the other side.

Our concern is that if anyone goes in at this stage,

we've not got as many people as we'd like here at the moment,

so we're just trying to think where the patient's going to go,

and where the potential people are going to go.

And the slack water will bring him into this spot here, hopefully.

Can we get another one down here,

with another throw line on this far bank, in case anyone goes in?

There's one person on this side, but the water's going to take them

round that way, round the quick edge.

James wants to see their patient.

But, to do that, he's going to have to abseil down the rock face.

'OK, I'm on site.'

He's no climber, and this is beyond the call of duty.

Hi, mate. How are you doing? James. Pleasure, Andy.

But James is determined to examine John personally.

Even if it means joining him in the river.

Right, James, that's wet feet now.

How are we doing, pal?

-What's your name?

-John.

-John. Tell you what, my feet are wet now.

John, what were going to try and do,

is just put a wee tube into your vein,

it's just going to be easier said than done.

What we'll do is see if we can get one in now.

You're a wee bit cold, but...

Their patient is in good spirits, but that could change.

It's nearly an hour since his leap into the river ended in agony,

and the cold is beginning to get to John and his rescuers.

More worryingly, hauling him 40 feet up the rock face to safety

will be fraught with danger.

Accidents are usually unpredictable,

the result of a freak series of coincidences

coming together with disastrous consequences.

But one day in West Yorkshire, a little girl found herself

at the centre of bizarre mishap that almost defies belief.

The local fish and chip shop is the heart of many a Pennine village.

-Thank you, love. See you.

-Bye.

And on a sunny day, younger diners often prefer

to tuck into their takeaway straight from the paper.

But outside this chippy in the village of Cowling,

there's been a freak accident,

and an 11-year-old's life is in the balance.

This car left the road, demolished a dry stone wall,

and landed on a girl eating her lunch.

She's now trapped.

Often, when there's a child involved, you are dealing with their parents

and it gets quite emotive and emotional.

You just have to let your medical training rule your head

and do what's best for the patient at the time.

Scene's to the right. Come round.

I've got it, yeah.

Paramedic Sammy Wills knows this will be a difficult case.

Dave Appleby is a father of two.

It'll be his job to get as close as possible to their young patient.

Cowling is a former mill village.

A lot of these onlookers know the girl who's under the car.

They don't know whether she's still alive.

Luckily, members of the public had already started jacking

prior to our arrival.

We've chopped the vehicle and placed airbags under as a precautionary measure,

just to stop the car from coming down any further.

She was sat eating the fish and chips on the table and chairs outside

and I just saw something through the corner of my eye.

I looked, and there's a car flying through the air

and it landed on top of her.

She's under the driver's side, she's pinned.

-I don't really know the mechanism of the injury as yet.

-Right.

Ella Varley's head is under the engine block,

and her body is pinned by the car's exhaust system.

The Fire Service were a bit unsure

as to which way to get the vehicle to lift off her.

The problem was they weren't quite sure if they lifted one side then

that would put weight on the other, which would cause more problems.

It's a miracle she's survived.

She's fully with it at the minute, is she?

-She is at the moment, yes.

-Right.

She's obviously very scared and frightened.

Oh, right. She will be.

The paramedics must work together as a team to get Ella out.

One is supporting her head, another her hips,

and Air Ambulance paramedic, Dave, her legs.

Ella, give me your hand, darling. Give me your hand.

Are you all right? OK.

We're going to have you out in a minute. All right, love?

She is so tightly wedged under the car,

it is pressing down on her chest.

Her rescuers are worried they cannot properly examine her for injuries.

Dave's just trying to get a collar on her, all right?

What about lower down? Is this all right, Ella?

Does that feel all right?

SHE SHOUTS

OK, sweetheart. OK.

It's not possible to lift this any further, is it?

Not without sending the front down.

All right, mate. All right.

Ella is getting increasingly distressed.

It could be a sign her condition is changing for the worse.

They must get her out, soon.

On average, one farm worker dies each week

in an accident somewhere in the UK.

It's an injury where danger's part of everyone's working life,

and when something goes wrong,

it's often the helimed team that has to pick up the pieces.

Working in remote places with heavy machinery

can be a potentially lethal mix.

And today, a farmer in the Pennines is in real trouble.

-So you witnessed him come out, did you?

-Yeah.

-How long was he not responding to you for, then?

-Couple of minutes.

Malcolm Pearson is badly injured.

He'd been using a chainsaw

while standing in a metal basket fastened to a forklift tractor

on a sloping field.

Luckily, his apprentice, Scott, found him almost immediately.

You see where he fell. I couldn't keep him on the floor.

Yeah that's fine, mate, you've done the right thing.

Scott was working with Malcolm, when his boss fell

and landed on the branch he had been trying to chop down.

He was just dropping the tree down back there, it swung down wrong,

hit the man basket and took him out of the man basket.

Headfirst onto the floor.

So, he's lost balance and he's come down.

-The tree there, it's fallen wrong, swung, hit the basket...

-Right.

He had a chainsaw in his hand, or something like that. It's down here.

-Has he?

-Yeah, chainsaw down there.

You like to live dangerously, don't you?

Malcolm's most worried about his wrist,

but the paramedics are concerned about his neck and back.

After such a long fall, which knocked him unconscious,

there is potential for very serious spinal injuries.

When I pressed down on your neck initially, you said it hurt.

-Is that still there?

-A little bit, yeah.

But while the paramedics try and work out

how to get Malcolm safely out of the pile of logs he's fallen into,

Scott has a very difficult phone call to make.

Your dad's had a little accident.

He's kind of like fallen out of the man basket,

and air ambulance is here.

Trees hit it. Trees hit it, yeah.

There are still here now, but they're taking him to Blackburn.

Normally, in this situation,

they try to roll patients onto the spinal stretcher.

But with so many branches in the way,

that's not going to be possible.

Instead, they're having to think differently.

I think we might have to do a bit of both now.

Malcolm landed face first.

So, as well as his other injuries,

it looks like he'll be needing some dental work.

-Have you lost any teeth then?

-Yeah.

-Not lost any complete?

-No.

-And Guy got you to feel around. There's nothing loose in there?

-No.

Malcolm's farm is high up on the Yorkshire and Lancashire border.

To drive to hospital from here could take up to an hour.

He's had a period of unconsciousness,

one of his workmates said it was for about two minutes.

But with his potentially life-changing injuries,

he's soon flying to the regional accident and emergency department.

Doctors at Blackburn Royal are waiting

to assess Malcolm's injuries.

Back on the farm, his apprentice, Scott,

is in charge of the livestock.

A welcome relief after the drama of the boss's fall.

I was a mess.

Things go so quick, you don't know what to do, you're in shock.

You just think your boss is in a right mess on the floor,

and it all happens so fast.

But just two days later, the boss is back on the farm.

Despite a fall that could have killed him,

Malcolm's injuries turned out to be relatively minor.

Having just sustained a sprained wrist and a broken wrist,

and some broken teeth, they found no other injuries on me

and released me from hospital within two days.

Within four or five days, I was back wandering around the farmyard,

doing a few light duties.

He admits, though, it will be some time

before he's back in his basket, chopping down trees.

But he's very aware things could have been so much worse

if it wasn't for his quick-thinking apprentice.

Scott was quite a hero, really.

He had things under control,

he'd fished a mobile phone out of my pocket

and got the emergency services on the way.

When I woke up in hospital,

he was the first guy I actually saw hovering over my head.

I really do owe much of my life, I suppose, to Scott.

He saved the day.

Now, let's return to rapids high in the Yorkshire Dales,

where the operation to rescue a tourist,

badly injured after jumping onto rocks, has reached a critical stage.

John Finney was on a day trip from his home in Hull with his sons,

when he slipped, leaping into a deep pool, and broke his leg.

Members of the local mountain rescue team

have been joined by flying paramedic, James Vine.

Their patient's being given pain relief,

but the most serious problem facing them

is how to get him out of the water.

-The leg through that one.

-Yep.

Can you pass it through and then back to me?

They're using a floating splint,

a gadget developed for the cave rescues

the team is often called on to perform.

Well done, mate. Stick with it.

But in the swirling waters of the ravine, it's hard work.

It's not wonderful, we'll just have to go with it.

-It feels great.

-It feels great?

What we're going to do,

we're going to drag you up the rock, out the water.

We can sort you out a bit better, then.

Right, slowly now. Go!

At last, John is hauled free of the water, inch by inch.

Every movement is agonising for their patient,

but the risk of hypothermia while he remained in the river

was too great.

Think about some access, once you get up here. And some ketamine.

Now, James can finally examine John's broken leg.

It's a fractured in at least two places.

Tib and fib.

-Front and back?

-Yeah.

How are you feeling? Pain? Good.

They could use ropes to haul John up

the 40-foot rock face he fell down, but that would be very difficult.

The next solution could be just as complex.

An RAF Sea King helicopter is on its way to the scene.

'They gave me a half an hour estimate over 20 minutes ago now,

'so I don't think you'll be waiting long on this flight.'

Gentlemen, we've got an ETA for 10 minutes.

But the overhanging trees will make this a challenge, even for the RAF.

I don't know that they're going to be happy to winch from this. Plan B.

We've got a Plan B in place, haven't we?

This is Plan B.

Mountain rescuers preparing a stretcher to haul John up the cliff.

But he's in terrible pain,

and the movement of a rough ride on the end of a rope will be agonising.

This will be a last resort.

It's just to get him up onto the ledge here

if the Sea King can't lift him.

I suspect...

It's just quite difficult getting him straight up here, I imagine.

But you've seen him, you need to call it, mate, I don't mind.

My only concern is that coming through here,

they're not going to be happy.

Looking from where I am, there's a lot of overhang from this one,

and also this other.

I don't know... I don't know that I'd be happy with that winch.

I'm starting to think, we can't winch him in what we've got here.

He's unable to go in a strop,

he's going to have to go in two strops,

and they're going to want him in the bucket.

-Are you all right, John?

-Yeah.

Say again, mate?

INAUDIBLE

You don't want any?

We're still not sure whether the Sea King

will be able to winch from this location.

If not, then were going to have to drag the patient out,

and all the way up to our ambulance,

which is a good quarter, half a mile up this hill.

You've seen the terrain around here, it's really hilly, so...

It's going to be a long extrication if the Sea King can't winch.

At last, the RAF arrives.

This Sea King's flown 70 miles from its base.

He's not looking as well as he looked when we first got here.

So we really want to hurry it up, if we can.

With a deteriorating patient and formidable obstacles in their way,

the pressure's on the RAF to pull off a spectacular rescue.

But the odds are stacked against them.

Freeing trapped patients is very difficult.

And in West Yorkshire, 11-year-old Ella Varley's life

could depend on the skills of the firefighters and paramedics

trying to remove a car that is pinning her to the ground.

Her rescuers are surprised that Ella appears not to be in pain.

But fire officers believe she may have been saved

from serious injury by an amazing stroke of luck.

It would appear that the wall itself has lifted the car up

and it's come, kind of, square down on top of her

as opposed to actually dragging her across,

-which would have been more severe.

-She's been trapped for half an hour

with her head under the engine and only her feet sticking out.

We're going to have you out in a minute, all right love?

Paramedics and firefighters have been delicately jacking up the car.

At last they think they have a chance of getting her out.

-She's free.

-She's free.

She's free. Ella, give me your hand, darling. Right,

you hold on tight, OK?

We're going to start to move you down in a second. Ready, steady, go.

Air ambulance paramedic Dave Appleby and his colleagues must be careful.

They haven't been able to examine Ella,

she may have unseen and potentially serious injuries.

Well done. We're there.

We will have to watch your hair, won't we?

Just watch those stones, that they don't go underneath her, as well.

At last, her terrifying ordeal is over.

SHE CRIES Where's my mum? I want to see my mum.

Understandably, Ella's upset.

But she's not crying for herself, her black Labrador, Ben

was sitting with her when the car came over the wall

and she doesn't know if her pet survived.

-Where's my dog?

-Ooh, I don't know.

-Ella, sweetheart.

Ben DID make it - as far as the chip shop.

But he's got a deep cut to his eye and a vet is on the way.

The dog came running into the shop.

Out of the worst. It's got hurt, I think.

Because the accident happened just a few minutes away from the local hospital,

Ella's going to go by road, which leaves the paramedics to reflect

on what they see as a miraculous escape.

She's been a very, very, very lucky young lady, I think.

-That word "luck".

-Luck doesn't even cover it for me, that one,

I mean it could have landed... if it had landed anywhere else,

If it had been one of us, I think

it would have crushed our chest or our abdomen.

She was that small and petite that she was just getting away with it,

but it could have landed... probably six inches anywhere else

and it would have squashed her head, her chest, anything.

Two days later and it's business as usual at the Cowling chippie.

There's nowhere to sit outside and the walls

are waiting for the local builder to come and fix them.

And Ella? She's back home with no visible injuries at all.

We went down to the chip shop for my dinner.

I ate my sausage and then I ate a chip and then it went black

and then I just opened my eyes and I was under the car.

Ella may have no scars,

but Ben the Labrador on the other hand

has a seriously sore head.

He was sat next to me in the car crash,

but he must have, like, moved

or he would have been squished next to me under the car.

Because it was the local chip shop, people knew who she was

and they'd rung my husband and my husband,

who was at work, he rang me

and I had to drive down and she was there trapped under this car.

I'd expected to find her dead, actually, it was awful.

I didn't want to see her to start with, it sounds awful, but I just didn't want to see her.

But they said that she was asking for me, so I crawled under the car

and held her hand and she looked fine, actually,

the bit that I could see, the other bit that I couldn't see,

probably, I expected not to be fine.

But, she was quite chatty, she was really good under that car,

I was really proud of her for that.

I'm just putting a little band around your waist. OK?

The paramedics treating Ella thought she may have broken her pelvis.

Understandable, when your patient is 11

and had a car land on top of her.

They were all saying that I've broken both my legs

and broken my pelvis,

but then I had an X-ray and I hadn't broken owt.

She's so lucky. As they say,

she is the luckiest unlucky girl in Cowling at the moment.

It's a big relief, yeah.

Get up!

With the world-famous Dales and Moors on their doorstep,

the helimed team often find themselves working in landscapes

that most people are prepared to pay to enjoy on holiday.

The Derbyshire Peak District is the UK's oldest national park

and still its most popular.

These dramatic valleys and rugged rock faces

attract 10 million visitors a year.

The scenery is stunning.

But this is a dangerous playground

and when someone's hurt, the helimed team's

often the first to reach them.

-We'll go onto the heather bit here.

-OK.

Today, high above the village of Hathersage, a walker's fallen

and Helimed 98's landing nearly 2,000 feet up.

Getting the team's patient out looks like being complicated.

-That'll be a Sea King winch job, won't it?

-It could be.

Their patient is Jo Morris, a vicar

who was out with the local guide pack when she lost her balance.

We'd just been following them around, observing them,

supporting them and unfortunately, Jo slipped on the gravel

and now she's slipped and twisted her ankle

and she heard it crack.

So, she's in a bit of pain

and I'm afraid we had to call the ambulance out.

It's all right, as well.

What I'm going to do is have a feel of your foot.

-It's nice and warm.

-Yeah.

Anywhere else, this would be a minor injury, but high in the peaks,

anything which stops you walking is potentially life-threatening.

Even in summer, wind chills are a real danger in these hills

-and moving around at night can be lethal.

-To be fair,

it's quite a difficult carry-out for the fell rescue team.

They're used to working as a team, so we'll stand back,

and obviously, if they need any assistance, we'll offer that.

It's Saturday and it looks like Jo's flock

is going to have to do without her sermon tomorrow.

Her broken ankle will need setting

at Sheffield's Northern General Hospital and the pulpit steps

are going to be out of bounds for several weeks.

But it takes more than a broken bone

to keep this vicar away from her job for long.

We've had services in front of the altar

because I can't get up and down the steps on the crutches

and I can't walk along in front of people,

giving them Communion, knelt down like I normally would.

I've had to do other things differently

like baptisms have had to be changed, that's basically

that mums or dads hold the baby

and I just do the bits I have to do stood up

and the rest we sit down, around the back at the font, if necessary.

Good morning everyone and welcome to worship here this morning.

Let's begin worship as we sing number 41,

hymn number 41.

CONGREGATION SINGS

Jo was helping the Guide pack's adventure training when she discovered

the downside of the Peak District's rugged landscape.

The surface was very gritty and I just slipped on this grit

and I must have twisted as I fell down

and I heard the bone go, so I knew I'd broken my leg,

so, I didn't move at all and when they sort of said,

"Are you all right?", I said, "I've broken my leg."

They said, "No, really, are you all right?" I said, "No, really,

"I've have broken my leg, I heard it go."

So, then it was a case of phone three nines

and who do you think has to come and pluck you off

a thing in the middle of nowhere,

a rock in the middle of the Peak District?

So, unfortunately I caused a bit of chaos really, to say the least!

Many visitors come to the Pennines for their history,

the dark satanic mills

and Gothic landmarks of the industrial revolution,

but even heritage can be hazardous.

Before the UK even had paved roads,

this was the M62 of its day.

2.2 miles, mate, 226.

In the 18th century, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal

carved through the Pennines, bringing prosperity

to towns like Hebden Bridge.

Now, the North's canal network is a tourist attraction

and most of its narrow boats are crewed by holidaymakers.

But its towpaths have become busy cycle routes

and that's why Helimed 99 is landing on the canalside today.

I'm just going to land between the two bits of water, then.

Yeah, there's a gap in here between these...

-Yeah, we're downwind to land.

-Yeah.

This young man is Fred.

He was cycling along here and he stopped at this bench

to have a drink and a bit of chocolate for some sustenance.

And the next thing he knew, he was rolling in these nettles.

69-year-old Fred Shaw had stopped for a breather, when he tripped

and plunged six feet down the embankment.

His ankle is badly broken.

-We've got a good pedo.

-He's got a good pedo, that's absolutely fine.

The canalside is busy today

and several ramblers came to his aid.

He wanted to get off his bike

and he kind of lost his balance

and then he was tumbling down

and then we didn't see him, so those ladies that were standing there,

they ran down and I went down there and made sure he was all right.

Fred is recovering from a heart attack six months ago.

-His doctor advised him to get on his bike.

-Pain wise,

he says he can tolerate it, it's fine.

-It's just slightly numb, that's all.

-He can wiggle his toes,

reflex is slightly delayed, but not too bad.

Neither Fred nor his doctor had this in mind,

but the team's patient is remarkably cheerful about his fall

and its effects on his keep-fit program.

If you keep going, just keep doing what you are doing,

getting out. Just avoid this bit. The cycling bit's all right...

Paramedics Pete and Darren want to make sure

the injury hasn't blocked circulation to Fred's foot.

Could you lift it up off the floor? I can support it for you.

Air ambulances are designed to carry the most serious cases

to hospital quickly.

Fred's injury is relatively minor,

but his rescue would require a mile-long hike along the towpath

for ground paramedics and a painful ride for Fred.

Put that leg back. There's a foot rest there for you.

All right, just keep the pressure on.

Flying will save him a lot of pain and the ambulance service

a lot of time and effort.

Just watch yourself, a bit further down,

because it's a little bit pitted, the ground.

In just five minutes, he's touching down at Leeds General Infirmary

where his ankle will be set and plastered.

When it comes to appreciating scenery,

nothing beats the bird's eye view,

but few visitors to the Yorkshire Dales can rely on

£3 million of high-tech helicopter to keep them safe in the air.

It's a glorious day with a gentle breeze

in the Yorkshire Dales.

The sort of weather that entices the paraglider pilots

to take to the air.

Soaring on the gentle updraughts generated by the hills

and staying airborne with nothing more than a few feet of fabric

keeping them from a messy end.

-What hill has he jumped off, then?

-That's what I said.

In a field near Harrogate, 25-year-old paraglider pilot

Alex Colbeck has crash-landed.

Hiya, you all right?

Alex was on an epic flight.

He set off with a friend from the market town

of Hawes, the cheese capital of Wensleydale.

He's flown a distance of some 45 miles.

We were paragliding earlier and I flew most of the way with Alex,

'til about 15 kilometres away and I landed

way back there. The next thing I knew, I'd landed, packed up.

I phoned Alex and heard that he had come in hard, had a hard landing.

He was in pain with his leg at that point.

He phoned the ambulance and I guess the paramedics arrived

-and phoned you guys.

-Before we attack you from all angles, Alex,

I'm just going to pop a pin in this hand,

so we can give you some nice strong painkillers

before we start messing you about.

You're going to need...

Despite being brave enough to dangle from a large kite in the sky,

Alex is less keen on having a needle put in his arm

for some pain-killing morphine.

-Man up, then!

-Yeah.

He was flying solo when the accident happened,

but luckily a family was out walking and noticed him in the field.

We saw the red and white sort of canopy laid out here.

So, we came across to investigate, my wife came across here

and I went round to open the gate over there.

At the same time, the ambulance was driving up and down, we could hear it,

so I moved to the side of the road to flag the ambulance down

and my wife came across to see

-if the lad was OK.

-He came down for a landing

and the sail's given way underneath him, so he's come down fairly hard.

He's got a bit of pelvic and lower back pain at the moment.

We'll just err on the side of caution. How long were you up then?

I don't know. About four hours or so.

-That must have been stunning today, then?

-Yeah.

Paramedic James suspects Alex may have a serious spinal or pelvic injury.

Yeah.

Just before we roll him, I'll pop one of these on.

It's just a wee tight belt that just goes around your pelvis, mate.

-Pelvic fractures are dangerous.

-OK, mate?

The pelvis cradles and protects many of the body's essential organs.

With what's called an open book fracture,

the pelvis can collapse allowing the abdomen to fill with blood.

A pelvic splint will keep everything in place until Alex can be X-rayed.

It will also help ease his pain.

98, just lifted the scene for Harrogate. ETA, one minute.

This is the way to fly, with two jet engines!

-I can't afford one of those!

-Yeah.

But it's a short flight.

If he'd managed to stay in the air a bit longer,

he could have landed at Harrogate Hospital's A&E unit himself!

Hi, chaps, how are we doing?

Sorry. we're so quick, but we were literally about three fields away.

X-rays show Alex has a hairline fracture of his pelvis.

It is not as serious as the team first thought

and he's soon back at work, considering his future

in his high-risk hobby.

There's no better way to enjoy the Dales than by bike,

two wheels and a bit of muscle power.

Just remember to stay in the saddle.

Real hard-core cyclists take on the coast-to-coast ride,

a 192-mile trip from the Irish Sea to the North Sea.

It ends at Robin Hood's Bay and takes in

some of the UK's most spectacular scenery along its route.

Biking brothers John and Mike Bickerstaffe

are veterans of some marathon cycle tours,

but their latest trip,

coast-to-coast, has ended in disaster.

A lady in a car stopped and said, "Are you with somebody?"

and I said, "Yes" and the lady said,

"I'm sorry, but he's had an accident about a couple of miles back."

Very worrying and still is.

Their route takes in three national parks and some very steep hills.

The one that caught 68-year-old John out is too steep to land on.

Right, what I can do is drop you guys and then move away.

Paramedic Sammy Wills is dropped off on the hillside.

And pilot, Chris, must fly on to find somewhere safe

-and flat to put down.

-OK then, who's got a handover?

We can do it between us, really.

John's injuries point to him having hit the deck at speed.

His brother had already gone down the hill when he crashed.

A passing motorist found him lying in the road.

He was, sort of, semiconscious.

And his bags, there was one, two, in the road

and his bike was on the side.

And gradually, he did come round.

So, we just stayed with him, called 999 and here you are.

-Good lad.

-John's injuries could be life-threatening.

This battered helmet probably saved his life.

And you can see where it struck,

wherever it struck, something very solid

and showing signs of damage, but fortunately,

that's not his skull, this is the helmet that's taken the damage.

It's a nine-day trip,

nine days of railways and nine days of cycling.

Unfortunately, we've gone and wrecked it on day four.

Pilot Chris has managed to land the chopper at the bottom of the hill.

Come to me. Keep coming, keep coming...

John's injuries are so serious

they need to fly him to the regional trauma centre in Leeds.

The helmet protected his brain, but he has other skull fractures,

broken ribs and eye damage.

Two weeks later and after several operations,

John knows he is lucky to be alive.

I haven't been wearing a helmet for a long time,

but I was finally persuaded by family and others that I ought to,

so I have been doing for the last, oh, about six months.

I have got used to it, but had I not been wearing it,

I might not be alive today.

I got cut ear to ear

and along those lines of my face,

they basically scalped me, so, peeled it all back,

built it all up and then just replaced it.

Which I can't get over.

As well as all the paramedics and helimed crew,

there are a couple of other good Samaritans John would like to thank.

If he only knew who they were.

Two people in the car who found me on the road,

they actually stayed with me right through all that

and offered...then brought my brother to the hospital

to be with me.

The patients who found pain in the prettiest places there

and I'm glad to say all are recovering well,

but what about John Finney,

the holidaymaker whose first experience of canyoning

ended in agony.

He's still stranded in a rocky ravine

and an RAF helicopter is his only hope.

The RAF crew has a bird's eye view of the rescue

it's been called in to carry out and the pilots don't like what they see.

At least John's now been hauled out of the water

that was lowering his temperature to dangerous levels,

but he's still a long way from safety.

The boys are doing an amazing job,

setting up to get that chap out of there.

-Has he landed?

-There's no way you'll treat that as you would in a hospital,

so your priority is to get him out of there.

He's in water, he's hypothermic,

he needs to be out and you have to cut a few sensible corners to get him there,

somewhere safe where you can actually treat him.

You all right, John? You winning? Has anything changed?

It is rare for these guys to touch down and study the lie of the land,

but that's what they've reluctantly decided to do today.

What I'm going to do is just make sure that he's secure in my kit.

The guys are good at this job...

This recce will delay John's flight to hospital,

-but it could save his life in the end.

-Getting a bit cold...

Everything is against them,

large trees overhang the gully from both sides.

But with their patient deteriorating, the alternative,

of trying to manhandle him up the cliff face is too hazardous.

It's an horrendous winch,

there's an awful lot of hazards.

This is precision flying,

the winchman must thread his way through the tree canopy

to get to the patient.

We've got a number of trees, other hazards, slippery surfaces,

fast-moving water,

he's in a phenomenal amount of pain.

We've given him a decent amount of analgesia painkillers,

but we just can't get on top of it because of the position he's in.

The RAF crews train with mountain rescue regularly and today

all that experience is being called on.

I take my hat off to the RAF, they deserve every penny they get.

The winchman's frantic hand signals have safely guided him and John

through the trees and up into clear air.

It looks easy, but it wasn't.

It takes the RAF just 10 minutes

to fly John to Lancaster Royal Infirmary. Later that night,

he undergoes surgery to pin his shattered leg.

A few days later, he's well enough to catch up on the news,

but he's still not out of the woods.

He spent so long in the river, infection is a real risk.

Basically, I was avoiding somebody in the water

and as I jumped off the cliff, I turned to the left

and hit a branch with my face.

As I came down, I hit the rocks at the bottom.

As soon as I hit the water, I could feel the pain

and when I put my hand there, I could feel the bone come through my leg.

Tib and fib.

How are you feeling? Pain?

When James arrived, he was absolutely fantastic,

went through all the procedures, what he was doing,

told me that he'd have to take me out of the water to stop me

getting hypothermia and everything else.

He told me the helicopter would have problems because of the amount of trees

at the top and everything else.

The winchman told me to close my eyes

because there was ropes going round and branches and trees,

so I just shut my eyes and that was it basically.

I wasn't frightened at all, I was reassured by the professionalism

of the helicopter crew.

And I'm pleased to say John's leg has now healed

and he wants to return to the Dales again soon.

But he has no plans to try canyoning again.

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