Episode 24 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 is 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, mate.

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

turning roadsides into operating theatres.

We are going to use an emergency anaesthetic, OK?

And town centres into helipads.

Just behind you, Tim.

And every day, the Helimed team's skill, speed and courage is saving lives.

Today on Helicopter Heroes:

A teenage daredevil is badly hurt

and his mum is determined to prevent more casualties.

You promised me no more. You don't come here any more.

The hunt is on for a hit-and-run driver

who left a woman and child lying in the road.

When it hit them, I just looked and I saw a car go straight on, really fast.

The team fights to save a man's hand after a factory accident.

We mostly use tissue and bone as a graft.

And a patient goes into cardiac arrest in midair.

There's a little bit of a daredevil in many teenagers,

but that spirit of adventure can also land some of them in hospital.

The canal was the M1 of the 18th century,

spreading prosperity across the North.

But 300 years later,

our waterways are a playground for tourists and locals alike.

Helimed 99, explorer helicopter, Leeds Bradford,

inbound to an incident at Thorne.

We are just approaching Ferrybridge, 1,300 feet. So one, zero, two, two.

Helimed 99 is heading for a waterway near the market town of Thorne,

where teenager Sam Wrigley has become the victim of a canal bank tradition.

For weeks, they have been coming here,

jumping off there into the canal and swimming.

Today, he has jumped, hit his foot on that ledge and landed on his back.

The closest pilot Steve Waudby can get his crew

is a field 100 metres from the bridge.

-That's not going to help, is it?

-No.

We will not be able to bring him down and up this.

Do you want us just to help carry to you? Is he major trauma?

Does he need to go direct somewhere else other than DRI?

-What was he doing?

-Swimming.

-Pardon?

-Swimming.

-He's gone and jumped in there?

-They all do.

They have been doing it for weeks. I've been telling them not to.

16-year-old Sam is waiting to join the Army.

He passed all the admission tests

but he's now fallen victim to a rite of passage for local teenagers.

-Can you remember everything that's happened, Sam?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-I was going to jump in the water from up there.

-Did you slip?

I lost my footing. One foot came over the edge.

There was nothing to grab hold of, so I slipped head first.

What did you land on?

-I landed on my foot and then I hit my back on the concrete.

-Right.

Paramedics John and Sammy want to get Helimed 99 nearer their patient.

It won't be easy.

The chopper's downdraught will blow away anything that moves.

Hold on to that and don't let it blow away. Hold on to it tight.

Hold on to it tight.

Sammy is doing her best

to keep Steve away from the trees and the water.

With perfect precision, Steve pulls off a very tricky landing.

Getting the helicopter so close has made our job a hundred times easier

because it would have been extremely difficult without it.

So a cracking job there by Steve.

Having had a quick look,

I noticed the path was just wide enough in this place.

It was on the side but there is a hole underneath the bank

so he decided he wouldn't.

So he moved over a little bit more.

But he has since discovered it potentially could have caved away so it was a good move.

-I'm just going to feel your chest now, OK?

-Yes.

-Does that hurt at all when I press?

-No.

-Nothing at all?

-Does that hurt?

-Just where you're moving my body.

-All right.

What we are going to do, we'll put out a board and pop him on there.

Sam's mum had warned him not to jump

and she doesn't want anyone else hurt today.

Go home and remember you promised me, no more.

You don't come here any more.

Drop them in my back garden in the Wendy house, OK?

Where is my bag and my towel?

There is a bag there, darling, and there's your towel.

I'm going to hold your head while this paramedic takes this from under it.

Sammy and John know Sam could be very badly hurt.

He had fallen 15 feet when he hit the concrete.

Shockwaves travelling up his back could have caused serious injuries to his spine.

This lad has been going to jump into a canal

and slipped off a bridge, fallen 12 to 15 feet, maybe.

The team wants to fly Sam

to Sheffield's Northern General Hospital, the local trauma unit.

No loss of consciousness.

All his observations are stable

but he is complaining of lower back pain.

No. OK.

Sammy, Northern General won't accept him

because he doesn't meet any of the priority criteria.

Doctors now apply strict rules on which patients can be admitted.

Sam's injury doesn't meet them

so he'll have to go to the local hospital instead.

They have not accepted him.

He has not triggered the triage, so we're going to take him direct to Doncaster,

which means it is as well to actually just carry him to the land ambulance.

OK.

It seems Steve's dramatic landing wasn't necessary after all.

-All right, Sam.

-I'm cold.

-You're cold.

I tell you what, here's the deal then.

We'll get you up off the floor into a nice warm ambulance, all right?

Sam's in considerable pain.

-It's really starting to hurt.

-Really starting to hurt?

It should be making it feel a bit more comfy.

-He didn't want any needles.

-I guessed that would be the case.

If you don't want them to give you a needle,

you need to use the gas and air.

It's the only pain relief you can have then.

It's starting to really hurt my leg. I want it taken off.

You can't have it taken off, sweetheart, because you could do more damage.

-It's just hurting it more.

-Calm down. Calm down.

He's on his way to a waiting land ambulance.

Helimed 99's arrival has caused quite a stir in the town.

It seems diving into the canal isn't a new problem.

I have spent many a summer's afternoon in that canal.

The water wasn't as deep then. It was only six foot. They've deepened it since then.

Where they dive in now, we would have smashed our skulls when we were young.

It's part of local life, isn't it?

Two minutes, we'll get you on the stretcher and carry you and take you to hospital.

Thanks for being so patient.

It turns out Sam's injuries are more serious than it first appeared.

At Doncaster Royal infirmary,

doctors find he crushed several vertebrae in his back.

And when he comes home, he is in a full body brace.

The Army will have to wait.

The doctor at the hospital came and told me if I had fallen another two

inches without hitting the concrete ledge first, I would have died.

So I think myself very lucky.

Does that hurt at all when I press?

I've damaged the third vertebrae

and I've also bruised my ankle internally and externally.

While I was lying there, I was thinking,

what is my mum going to say?

And whether or not I was going to walk again?

All he could say was, "Sorry, Mum. Sorry, Mum.

"I should have listened. I should have listened."

I had told him so many times not to go and play on the canal bridge.

I can't really complain because my husband was exactly the same.

He jumped off that bridge into the canal many times when he was a kid.

-Come on.

-Ready, steady, lift.

It could have been a hell of a lot worse

because he could have ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of his life

or worse still, he could have been paralysed from the neck down.

I would advise people strongly not to do it. They could end up like me.

Potentially paralysed or worse.

When I was a copper, I used to see the worst of people on our roads.

The drunk, the careless and sometimes the plain reckless.

But the one kind of motorist I could never understand

was the hit-and-run driver.

In the centre of Bradford,

a car has gone through red lights on a pedestrian crossing.

Two people are badly injured.

I just saw it fly on.

When it hit them, I just looked and the car went straight on, really fast.

The driver of this upturned Mercedes managed to scramble out.

He then ran off.

991. Two children injured.

One with head injuries, the other with a serious leg injury.

The police have called in their own chopper

to help search for the Mercedes' missing car driver.

Good evening. Traffic information.

Police helicopter eight miles south of the field,

also routed into the Bradford area.

-The police helicopter is at seven o'clock.

-OK, mate. Cheers.

Clear of the trees my side.

Plenty of room to swing tail this way if you need to.

The pedestrian crossing

is opposite one of Bradford's busiest public parks.

A young boy was walking home from a kickabout

with his aunt and her partner.

Two of them are badly injured.

I felt a car or something hit me on the back of the leg

and I just turned.

I went forward and turned this way and I saw my girlfriend

and my nephew flying over here.

Next minute, I turned and looked at the car and I heard it hit the wall.

It was so quick.

I ran to my nephew first and then I looked and I thought, Paula.

So I ran to her and I just shouted,

"Please, someone, phone an ambulance!"

Then I ran back to my nephew and I saw a big gash in his head.

The air ambulance will fly the most critically injured patient to Leeds.

The other will go by road.

-We've got a serious leg injury to the left leg.

-No problem.

It looks like the car has hit the child from behind.

Air crew paramedic Andy Armitage was driving to the nearby hospital

in an ambulance when he was flagged down to help.

He's got a nasty open wound to the top of his head. He's a bit upset.

It's all right. It's all right.

They decide to take Paula Smith.

The car smashed into her legs. Her partner's nephew will go by road.

Can you explain to Paula?

But Paula is deaf and the paramedics are finding it hard to get

answers to important questions.

Air ambulance paramedic, Matt Syrat,

uses his universal sign language to get his message across.

It's OK, Paula.

Reassure her that this neck brace is just to keep her neck still.

Local residents have now heard of the accident

and come out to see what's going on.

For the paramedics, priorities are changing.

Seven-year-old Keenan McKew's condition is getting worse

but there is only room for one patient in the chopper.

The crew makes the choice.

We're going to change the plan because this one is deteriorating.

-So you are taking the little one to Leeds.

-Can you grab a corner, guys?

Keenan is showing all the signs of a serious head injury.

Paula will now have to go by road.

Seven-year-old male. Pedestrian hit by a car.

Isolated frontal head injury. We feel he is deteriorating.

OK, feet first. Sliding. Sliding. Lovely.

They are just looking after you, love.

Keenan's mum, Anita, has rushed to the scene to be with him.

-It's not hurting you, that.

-Mummy's here.

-Keenan, listen to me.

We are doing our best look after you. I want you to relax for me.

We will make it all better for you. Just give us five minutes, OK?

Keenan's mum is coming too.

And after a briefing from paramedic, Darren, she has an admission.

-I have never flown before.

-You are going to enjoy this then.

Don't put your feet under your seat.

-Keenan.

-Just relax.

-Keenan, mummy is here with you.

I just want you to relax. There's nothing to worry about, all right?

It's like floating on a magic carpet.

Her son is very ill. Darren offers as much reassurance as he can.

Everything we've done is a precaution.

We are going to LGI, straight into the department

and they will look after him straight away.

He's had quite a nasty bang on the head.

So he's bound to be a bit confused.

When you bang your head, you are confused. He is concussed.

So once we get him in, they will look after him and make sure he's all right.

They might put him off to sleep for a little bit just to give him a rest because he's a bit agitated.

Helimed 98 outside LGI.

With her first flight ending on a rooftop helipad in the centre of Leeds,

Anita can at least be reassured that her son is in the best possible place

for treatment to a head injury that is causing increasing concern.

Seven-year-old Keenan. Crossing at a pedestrian crossing, hit by a car.

Two other pedestrians involved. Nothing to do with these.

Back in Bradford,

police are still trying to piece together what happened.

There are plenty of witnesses to what seems a bizarre incident.

The car just accelerated at the pedestrian

crossing before hitting the wall and flipping over.

Later that day, police arrest the driver as Keenan gets taken for his first scan.

Two days later, and Keenan is making good progress.

How are you feeling?

-My head hurts.

-Your head hurts?

His mum and aunt have stayed with him.

They know how lucky he's been.

I was next to the car but them two, how lucky they have been.

Because of how fast I thought the car was going,

I actually thought they were both dead.

Donna's partner will be in hospital longer.

Paula has broken her leg.

And three of her bones in her ribs.

It is something to do with two bones down at the bottom of the spine

and she has got a deep gash.

She went down yesterday to theatre and she's got two rods in her leg.

And what about your hair?

We were talking about getting his hair cut, weren't we?

Keenan has a head full of stitches

and a hospital haircut he is not very happy with.

No, it doesn't suit you, does it?

But his hair will grow and both mum

and aunt are just grateful he's alive and thankful to his rescuers.

Despite all the health and safety precautions,

some jobs are simply risky. Ask any joiner.

Around 2,000 people a year are injured by circular saws

and even those who know all about the dangers are still at risk.

Helimed 98 is on its way to a joinery workshop

near Northallerton in North Yorkshire.

Its patient is 53-year-old Nigel Phillips,

the company's health and safety officer.

He has just cut through four fingers.

By the sound of the injuries, he's going to have to go to a specialist hospital.

We can take him to James Cook and try and salvage as many of the fingers as possible.

James Cook Hospital has a special plastics unit,

which could be vital in trying to repair Nigel's hand.

There's is always a chance that they might be able to

reattach his digits. It depends how badly damaged they are.

That is going to be very boggy, guys.

Nigel is a former fire officer

who knows all about the risks of using a power saw.

But that hasn't prevented an accident.

He's taken off his thumb, he's taken the top bit off here

and damaged his finger as well.

So across there, across there.

Flying doctor Jez Purnell will help paramedic Sam Burgess

and Sammy Wills establish if the fingers can be saved.

Nigel is remarkably calm.

Are you sure you don't want any painkillers for that?

-Because if it were me, I would.

-You don't have to be a hero.

This workshop is full of potentially lethal tools and it was

while using this circular saw that Nigel cut off his fingers.

He was just using the table saw,

cutting some wood and timber on the table saw,

and as he was pushing the wood through, he sneezed,

and just lent forward a bit too far and his hand went through the blade.

Paramedics need to find all the pieces of finger before they can leave.

Just splay your fingers for us, sir.

Splay your fingers for us.

Sammy has found all the fragments and now needs to clean them

and bag them up, ready to go straight to surgery.

You can also use tissue and bone as a graft.

So although it might not get reattached,

it still potentially can be used to fill in the gaps.

Health and safety officer Nigel has only had gas and air

and is happy to make his own way to the helicopter.

They need to get him to James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough

quickly to give surgeons the best chance of repairing his fingers.

-What is your Sunday name?

-Nigel Peter Phillips.

Nigel is in surprisingly good spirits

and once he makes his way to hospital,

doctors soon establish that he needs reconstructive surgery.

He will undergo a delicate operation to rebuild

the end of the remaining fingers.

As the resident health and safety officer at work,

Nigel proves that even with all the right training, sometimes,

freak accidents will happen.

It was this one slight error and it had some serious consequences

for the individual, the company and everybody else

that has to deal with it.

It's just that split-second of lack of concentration.

I've lost the top two tips of my fingers above the joint

and below the fingernail on these two fingers.

So they've basically pulled it over and stitched it back together.

All Nigel can do now is wait for the end of his fingers

to heal before he is allowed back to work.

They've done a fantastic job in stitching it back together again.

The stitches are out on Friday, hopefully, if all goes well.

From then on, it's just look after it, take care of it

and let nature take its course.

Now, one of the reasons Yorkshire's air ambulances are so busy

is the sheer size of the county they cover, all 6,000 square miles of it.

We are just on our way up to North Yorkshire to an area called Dalby Forest.

It's very popular with cyclists

and we've got reports that a 14-year-old has fallen off his bike.

It is not believed to be a serious injury,

although we have not got the full details in yet.

But it's a very isolated location for land crews or anyone else to get to

so hopefully, we can offer some assistance

and get them any treatment they require.

Adam Dawson was out cycling with his older brother

when things went wrong on this steep hill.

How is that looking?

-The grass looks pretty deep.

-I wouldn't get it in front.

-Clear my side.

-It's all clear this side but quite deep.

Pilot Tim Taylor sets the chopper down as close as he can to the casualty.

Fortunately, a local farmer with a four-wheel-drive is on hand

to offer paramedic Pete Vallance a lift to the patient.

Put your bags in there.

-Shall I jump in here as well?

-Yes.

The aircraft has just dropped us off at the bottom here.

We spotted this guy as we went overhead on the roadside.

We're not going to be able to get any closer

but this kind gentleman is giving us a lift up there.

Adam has been lying at the side of the road for over 20 minutes.

It is essential that Pete examines him for spinal injuries before he is moved.

-So you think you were going quite fast, yes?

-Yes.

-Is there any chance you could nip down and bring my colleague up with a stretcher, please?

-Yes. No bother.

Do you want to come around here. You're his mate, aren't you?

-His brother.

-Brother. Just pop your hands there and hold his head for me.

While Adam's brother supports his head,

Pete will give him a thorough examination.

Fortunately, he was wearing a helmet

and has escaped without a head injury.

I came across these two young guys here splattered on the road,

looking a bit distressed, so I thought I better stop and try and get some help.

I don't think he's broken anything.

He was screaming when he came off.

Adam and his brother are on holiday.

There is no mobile phone reception here

and their parents are unaware of the accident.

To make things worse, they were lost in the woods.

We're staying at, erm...

..Cropton Cabins, we thought, about four or five miles from here,

but looking at the map, someone just told us we are nowhere near the route it says we are on.

Really good of the map to send us in the wrong direction.

-These flies are going to be eating us alive, aren't they?

-They have been for the last 20 minutes.

I had to tell them where they were.

They were nowhere near where they thought they were.

It gave me the shivers when I saw the air ambulance

because the last time I saw one of them, it was coming to pick me up.

I had a motorbike accident on the moor,

broke my back and a few other bones and bits and pieces.

Anyway, I was airlifted off and I much appreciated it

and I would help anybody in the same situation.

-How far away from Cropton Cabins are we?

-About four or five miles.

-Definitely miles off then.

-Well, no, we are on the turning point.

-We've been out for about two hours.

-Have you?

Supposedly four miles in two hours.

I think we may have done a bit more than four miles in two hours.

With the sun going down, Adam is getting cold.

-Sorry, did I get your ear?

-Yes.

-It wasn't me, it was a fly!

The Land Rover is perfect for transporting Adam back to the waiting chopper.

It's not the most hygienic vehicle

but this situation demands improvisation.

You're lucky. There is normally a dead sheep in the back of there!

You're all right, you have been in a sleeping bag. We've been sat in it!

-Thanks for that, mate. Much appreciated.

-No problem at all.

-Five minutes.

-OK, mate. Cheers.

Adam is flown direct to Scarborough Hospital,

where the boys are later reunited with their parents.

He is released the following day.

It's a sad fact that one in four of us will die from heart disease.

It claims 179,000 lives a year in the UK alone.

But if your heart attack is caught early

and you receive the right treatment, you have a surprisingly good chance

of recovery and that is where the Helimed team come in.

MUFFLED DIRECTIONS

Today, Helimed 99 is on a house call to a bungalow in North Yorkshire.

Five o'clock, edge of the village. The little bungalow.

Pilot Tim is circling the home

of a 77-year-old woman complaining of severe chest pains.

Wendy Massmeder's sister realised what it might mean.

She was just sitting in the chair and I thought it was the dog.

It was just a strange noise.

When I looked at her, she was completely out of it.

She didn't fall forward or anything.

She was just absolutely, completely unconscious.

She came round and vomited copiously.

When we arrived, she was fully orientated, fully conscious.

The patient's symptoms confirm Wendy is suffering a heart attack.

I've seen you on telly!

Although she is chirpy, paramedics know her condition could deteriorate very quickly.

She could go into full cardiac arrest,

so the best place for Wendy is hospital.

Spin your legs so they are facing into there.

We are going to have you sat up. Go a little bit that way.

Super. Just wait there.

Heart attacks can affect people in different ways,

but often it's back pain and the tightness across the chest.

-Have you got any pain now, Wendy?

-Yes. Just a bit.

-How bad is it?

Not too bad.

Wendy is not well

and this routine job is about to take a dramatic turn.

If you need to, do it into that.

Without warning, Wendy's heart has stopped beating.

Wendy?

Sit her right back there. Right back.

-Is she arresting, mate?

-Yes, I think so.

-If you want a hand with anything, let me know.

-No. You're all right.

-I'll tell Dave to give A&E a heads up.

-Yeah.

No pulse. Are you happy for me to shock her in flight?

Yes. Crack on, mate.

Let's just make sure her arms are clear of anything metal.

Paramedic Andy Armitage has never had to shock someone in midair before.

We are charging at 200.

OK. You are clear. We are clear top, middle, bottom. No oxygen is on.

We are going to shock.

Can I get the bag and mask out?

-What time did that happen?

-About 20 past. Gagging a little bit.

-All right, love? You're OK.

-You got her back, mate.

Wendy is conscious again, unaware of what just happened.

Hello, Wendy. Wendy, are you all right?

Sometimes, that's all it needs.

Wendy is in good hands.

It is rare patients to go into cardiac arrest in midair.

-Wendy?

-Yes.

-Are you all right?

-Yes.

-Put your arm in there.

Specialists are waiting for her arrival

at James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough.

In the next half hour, the cardiac team will operate

to open out the blocked blood vessels that almost killed her.

It's been an anxious hour for Wendy's sister.

She has driven to the hospital to be by her side.

I shook her and patted her and said, are you OK? No reply at all.

Then I noticed her breathing was quite shallow so I just rang 999.

She was right to call for help

as Wendy was moments from a full cardiac arrest.

-Is she arresting, mate?

-Yes, I think so.

They did tell me that Wendy had an attack in the chopper, I think it was,

and she had to be resuscitated with the electric shock thing.

Defibrillator, or whatever they are called.

Wendy herself, now making a good recovery,

has few memories of her brush with death.

I was just sat there,

cos I was reading about tennis in the afternoon.

I just went all "whoo".

It was horrible, it was.

No pain. Just my head.

I felt a bit sick again and I must have passed out

because I only woke up when I got here.

It was a close shave but Wendy has been given a second chance

and is slowly getting back to her old self.

I've got high blood pressure but who hasn't?

I'm looking forward to her getting some rest

and getting back to normal.

She's usually telling us all off and where to go and all that

and yeah, I know she's all right if she's complaining.

No smoking, no drinking - I don't!

No salt, no men. SHE LAUGHS

Might as well shoot myself now!

Wendy, looking at the bright side, there.

She was lucky enough to be flown out from the bottom of her back garden.

But heart attacks are at their most deadly

when you're a long way from medical help.

RADIO: Just trying to get hold of the crew at the moment

to try and find out a better location for you,

which is accessed via a road.

They can't find where the road actually comes in from.

The Helimed team is on its way

to another suspected heart-attack patient.

RADIO: Helimed 99.

We are currently overseeing a casualty at this time.

A walker has collapsed in a remote spot with no road access.

RADIO: Roger. Visual with the casualties. Over.

-Just let this dust go.

-Yeah.

Jonathan Ellwood has been complaining of chest pains

and shortness of breath.

Hello, Jonathan. What's bothering you?

Are you feeling out of breath?

What's happened today, then, to make you pass out? Any pain at all?

(MUFFLED) I haven't passed out. I had a good breakfast.

A good brekkie?

We started from Otley yesterday.

He wasn't feeling too bright yesterday

but we managed to get to Blubberhouses and stayed overnight in a nice hotel.

And then as we were walking along this track here,

we'd only gone about two and a half miles when he just couldn't go on any further.

The reading from the heart monitor concerns paramedic Sammy.

I know you've got tummy ache. We're worried about your heart.

The picture that we're taking looks like you might be having problems,

OK, and that might be why you feel so rough.

Luckily for Jonathan, a passer-by who owns a local nursing home

recognised he was getting a heart attack.

Well, I passed the gentleman earlier on the footpath by the river.

I'd funnily enough noticed that the gentleman on the ground

was quite laboured and when I came back,

I found them both sitting on the steps just up there.

He seemed to be in a bad way so I basically called it in.

It's getting tight, just bring it over towards me. That's it.

And then what I want you to do is roll towards me.

Let's get these coats out the way.

MUFFLED SPEECH

Jonathan is quiet and very unwell.

A heart attack can lead to the brain becoming starved of oxygen.

It can be very frightening

and it can also lead very quickly to a full cardiac arrest.

OK then, Jon.

-What's the ETA, chaps?

-Seven minutes.

-Seven?

-Yes.

How does that sound to you, Jon? OK?

All right. You just relax there.

All the hard work's done.

In Jonathan's case, his heart attack is caused by a blood clot

so surgeons are on standby at Leeds General Infirmary, ready to operate.

Headers from 99. Making our final approach into the LGI.

Thanks to the speed of Helimed 99, Jonathan is arriving

at hospital within 30 minutes of the 999 call being made.

We're on the ground now, Jon.

His prompt treatment helps him go on to make a full recovery.

Today has been an absolutely brilliant example of the aircraft coming into her own, really.

That chap's having a massive heart attack in the middle

of quite an awkward spot with no road access and we were able to fly him

direct to the appropriate hospital in I think it was seven minutes.

To be honest, it has taken me as long to complete my paperwork

as it has been for him to have his operation.

He's already has his heart attack removed,

or the clot removed from his vein.

The good news is two out of three people who have heart attacks

go on to make a good recovery,

but there are some heart and chest problems

that have a much poorer survival rate.

73-year-old Freda Wesling was out walking her dog

when she was overcome by sharp pains in her back and was unable to move.

We had a call to tell us

that they may be considering what we call a Triple-A,

an ascending aortic aneurysm,

which is the main vessel through the centre of the body

that feeds the heart, etc.

We don't know if she's displaying symptoms of that condition.

We're heading to a quarry and we'll see what we find.

It was Freda's son who raised the alarm.

She gave me a ring, saying she was feeling ill,

suffering from bad back pain.

So she gave me a ring and asked me to come and help her.

When I got here, she could hardly breathe and yeah, not feeling good,

so I thought I'd better phone the ambulance straight away.

-Hello there.

-Hello.

-How are we doing?

-I'm doing all right.

-That pain in the back, is it still there?

-Yes, it's bad.

-All right.

-Around this side.

-A bit higher.

-Here?

-Yes.

-Does it feel muscular at all?

-No, not really.

-It's more internal.

-Yes. Inside.

Paramedics on the ground think she may have a serious condition

called AAA, an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

It's a dangerous bulge of the main blood vessel from the heart

which, if it bursts, can be fatal.

Freda. Just lay back a little bit into this sheet.

Paramedic Matt Syrat knows that if it is an aortic aneurysm, it can be very dangerous.

If the aneurysm ruptures,

the patient can bleed to death internally within seconds.

-How is that pain, Freda?

-Not too bad.

Ahead, medical teams are ready to scan her body

and, if necessary, operate.

Headers from Helimed 98, approaching Harrogate.

If it is an aneurysm, they can replace a section of the vessel,

which has weakened and bulged,

with a piece of synthetic tubing but this surgery can be very risky.

-You just relax, Freda.

-Right.

-OK, now. Ready, steady and move.

Just wait there one minute while we reposition. How about that?

-Is that supportive enough?

-That's better.

We are trying to get her pain under control, got in as fast as we could.

It took us four or five minutes to get from the scene

and she's in the right place.

Freda was prepared for the worst but there was a surprise in store.

Within two days, she is back at home in Ripon and with her dog, Holly,

She is already back to full health and able to enjoy all her passions.

I decided to take the dogs for a walk one morning.

I wasn't feeling terribly well but I decided I'd go anyway

so I went up to a place called Quarry Moor which isn't very far,

just the top of the road.

It's very hard to say how bad the pain was.

I had never suffered anything like it at the time.

I just didn't know what I was going to do.

Paramedics were convinced she was suffering a condition

that could kill her in seconds, but hospital tests

revealed something far less serious but equally as excruciating.

So what was it?

I think actually what happened was I had a kidney stone,

which isn't desperately serious on its own

but is extremely painful at the time.

Once I got rid of the kidney stone, I was back to normal,

which was really pretty fantastic.

As Freda found out, not every pain

is the sign of a life-threatening heart condition,

but the NHS says thousands more lives could be saved

if patients like Freda took chest pains more seriously

and dialled 999 immediately.

Working in the local undertakers, Glenys Parsons sees at first hand

the toll heart disease takes on the village of Hunmanby

on the North Yorkshire coast.

But she has a more personal insight, too.

My brother had had a heart attack.

He had to have a triple bypass and then I had the first heart attack.

And then we realised that my mother had died in her 60s,

her brother had died at 45.

None of us were drinkers, smokers...

..and it was put down to family history.

Today, Glenys is suffering another heart attack.

Heart attacks are time critical.

The quicker you can get people to definitive care

the better outcome for them so just with the distances involved

from Hunmanby down to Hull, this is a lot quicker for us

to respond than the land crew.

RADIO: 98, the crew have gone to the golf course in Hall Park.

The golf course have said they haven't got a problem with

us landing there but to avoid the greens, please. Over.

Yes. Rodger. Sure. Tim will do his best.

You all right? Good.

77-year-old Glenys was at work with her husband when she fell ill.

We were caravanning out in the wilds in the middle of nowhere

and one thing and another,

we never thought we'd need it but I hope she'll be all right.

-She has had one vomiting episode prior to our arrival?

-Yeah.

-I'm sorry, sweetheart.

-You're all right. Don't worry about it.

-Wait till you get the bill!

-That's made you smile.

Put your bottom straight onto this blue sheet. That's it.

Glenys has a history of heart problems

and has already had an operation

to widen narrowed arteries in her heart.

Now it looks like she needs more treatment.

-Have you been in a helicopter before?

-No. Everything else but.

Everything else but.

-See you later then, love.

-Yes. Thanks.

Glenys is being flown direct

to Castle Hill Hospital on the outskirts of Hull.

-Bearing 194.

-OK, Glenys?

Specialists are standing by to operate.

Are you a bit chilly now?

They find two of the arteries

supplying her heart are significantly narrow.

They fit stents to keep them open

and Glenys is soon sent home to Hunmanby.

I just feel fine.

Within a week I was told I could drive, go swimming,

take the grandkids out.

I mean, out in the garden at the moment,

I'm just moving a rockery.

I've shifted all the bricks and all the soil

and now the snow has gone,

I'm going to go back and get it set up for the spring.

Glenys, determined not to be beaten by a heart attack.

And she says her health is now as rosy as her garden.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd