Episode 29 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.

-Your location?

-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. - We've got you, mate.

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

turning roadsides into operating theatres...

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

..And town centres into helipads.

-Still clear on the left.

-Just behind you, Tim.

And every day the helimeds use skill, speed and courage in saving lives.

Today on Helicopter Heroes...

a veteran driver's 80th birthday celebrations end in a major collision.

We've got three helicopters that are just going to airlift all of them to the HRI.

The New Year hunt claims a casualty hours into 2013.

The horse just tripped and fell and she clung on for a little while, but fell off here.

Surgeons fight to save a factory worker's hand.

The only thing I need you to do is just keep calm.

And flying doctor Jez anaesthetises his patient in a country lane.

The helmet took the full force.

It's a sad fact that if you suffer a serious traumatic injury,

age does matter. Once you reach 60,

your body is simply not as good at healing itself.

It's especially true of older motorists who take longer to recover after a major road accident.

It's August on the Yorkshire wilds.

The combines are hard at work and it's the last bank holiday of the summer.

But on one country road the emergency services are dealing with a head-on crash.

There's been a collision near the market town of Beverley.

Multiple casualties.

Various degree of injuries.

We've got three helicopters that are just going to airlift all of them to the HRI.

We're just treating and triaging as we're going along really.

Good afternoon. Helimed 99 Alpha basic service.

Helimed 99 Alpha, you've got the police Explorer on the ground

and the Leconfield Sea King just landing.

Helimed pilot Steve Waudby is joining a big emergency operation

launched to save the victims of the crash.

He's heading to the same landing site as a military rescue chopper.

The elderly couple who were travelling in this people carrier are fighting for life

after the collision with this hatchback.

One of the victims is alive only because an off-duty firefighter was passing the scene.

It worked out that the gentleman who'd been driving the van had no airway,

so I jumped straight into the back and just created an airway for him

while my wife saw to his wife who was talking to her at the time.

I got someone to phone the fire service

and then it was just a waiting game,

making sure that the airway was maintained on the gentleman driving this car,

and that we could just keep talking and reassuring that the lady was...

The driver of this car was unconscious as well, so it was difficult.

We've got a gate to get past in either field.

Helimed 99 touching alongside two other emergency helicopters,

Oscar 99, the Humberside police chopper and Rescue 128 from the nearby RAF search-and-rescue base.

Paramedics John Baxter and Sammy Wills have to get up to speed quickly.

We've got one in the back with a B6. He's got a head restraint.

They're both elderly, both critical.

We've got another one in the rear ambulance,

-another doctor in the back... possibly flail chest, possibly needing attention before...

-Right.

-We've got one in the car. 20, 25-year-old, don't know the extent of his injuries.

-Right.

Right, we'll take one and let them take the other.

Yeah, this is the critical one.

-Right, we'll take this one, then. We'll get on with this. All right?

-Definitely, 100%.

-OK.

-Hello.

-Hiya.

I'm John, paramedic off the helicopter.

Apparently this is time critical, so we'll take this one.

-We're...

-Yeah?

-We've got him on board if you'd like to help me.

-Yeah, that's fine.

I need the access around him, so I've put that in there.

-So you don't want him to go on the helicopter?

-I'm going to take him on the Sea King if that's OK with you.

-On the Sea King, that's fine.

-So we've got elbow room to work round him.

The other one might be like that as well, though.

-He wants to go on the Sea King.

-Yeah, we'll move on.

The young driver in the hatchback has now been freed by firefighters.

Pensioner Denis Cudworth was driving his wife Ann home from his 80th birthday lunch

when the accident happened.

Now both are critically injured.

Local flying doctor Mike Hardman has been forced to operate on Denis,

using a scalpel to drain fluid building up around his lungs.

It's rare to have three choppers at one accident.

The Sea King being based just two minutes away,

they managed to get here first,

closely followed by the police helicopter as well,

who can carry passengers as well as patients.

There's a local doctor on the scene.

He's just taken one of the patients to the Sea King,

and they're just getting airborne now to take him to Hull Royal Infirmary.

The focus of the helimed team is now Denis's wife.

We're just putting the line in now and as soon as your ready to go, we're ready to go.

-All right. I'll head back to the heli now.

-Yeah.

Ann Cudworth has a bad chest injury but she's in good hands.

A hospital consultant who lives locally has taken charge of her care.

So this lady, I think she's got a flail chest on the right-hand side.

Certainly can't take it. Her SATS were about 88%.

Now her SATS are 90, she has got flesh wounds on both sides,

but certainly has chest injuries, but not to critical level,

so I had to put drainage in, so I think while she's stable, let's just get going.

Right, OK.

In a major accident, your age is critical.

The youngest casualty of the crash is the least seriously injured.

Stable. Move your pelvis.

Are you all right there, love? Just going to give you some oxygen.

That's a nice smile.

The teenaged driver was returning home from his job at a local restaurant

when the accident happened.

Paramedics fear he may have sustained a spinal injury.

He's strapped to a rigid stretcher.

The patient's boss, one of Yorkshire's top chefs,

was alerted by a colleague who came across the accident.

This road has a reputation locally.

Another one of our employees about a couple of years ago

on this same corner, it was slippy, and he came round the corner

and rolled his car, but luckily nothing else involved, you know.

Had a busy day at work. We've had a hell of a day really.

Sammy and John will take over the care of Ann.

She's very badly hurt.

Half an hour ago, Ann and her husband were heading home to North Yorkshire

after his birthday celebration.

Now she's on her way to Hull Royal Infirmary.

She was having some difficulty breathing in the ambulance,

so the doctor's put his little finger in her chest to create some space and help her breathe.

The team fear Ann may also have a serious pelvic injury,

often the cause of internal bleeding.

We're just wheeling you down the road now.

We'll go into the field and then we'll get you into our helicopter.

The pilots have been coordinating their arrivals at hospital

so the two most serious casualties will arrive in A&E first.

The police helicopter has the young lad from the other vehicle.

they're waiting until we've lifted just so that we can get in first.

The Sea King is already at Hull Royal. He's dropping his patient off and then coming straight back,

so that, hopefully, they won't be on the ground,

otherwise it'll be a little bit tight at the landing sight there.

We're just disconnecting her

from all the ambulance crew's cabling.

It's easier to do it outside before she's inside.

Unfortunately we've been on the scene quite a while so we need to...move.

Helimed 99 lifting.

There's no Sea King, is there? No? Good. Let's go for this, then.

Roger.

The RAF crew hasn't wasted any time.

Ann's husband Denis is already on his way to A&E,

and the Sea King has vacated the hospital landing site,

so Helimed 99 can land.

For the next few weeks, the bank holiday accident on the outskirts of historic Beverley

dominates the local headlines.

The couple's outlook isn't good.

But slowly, against the odds, they both start to improve,

and, a few months later, Ann and Denis are in the same rehab unit,

enjoying visits from their many friends and family.

We were having a very pleasant journey,

nothing untoward anywhere about anything...

And then suddenly it came to a stop.

I think between us we counted 27 broken bones.

We both had been critically ill.

I mean, Ann had a broken neck,

broken ribs,

broken shoulders...

you know, you name it, we seem to have had it.

I believe I've had punctured lungs

and the top two here which is why I had to have the neck brace.

Due to their age, the broken bones will take a little longer to heal,

and that means longer in hospital.

This was certainly not how Denis and Ann had imagined they'd be spending his 80th year.

We've been in the same hospital and we've been allowed to visit each other.

I certainly didn't plan to be here or indeed in hospital anywhere.

We had plans to do other things, of course, in the course of the year,

nothing very firm, but not this, that's for sure!

Everybody's been wonderful.

Family, friends, marvellous, absolutely marvellous!

The Yorkshire air ambulance operates 365 days a year,

even on days when most of us are enjoying a bank holiday.

But it's then that the helicopter can be at its most valuable.

It's New Year's Day and as the rest of the country sleeps off the celebrations of the night before,

paramedics Dave Appleby and Matt Syrat are preparing for another busy day

at the air ambulance base in North Yorkshire.

And as a new year begins, so too do the traditional New Year's hunts.

But the first day of 2013 has turned out to be unlucky for one rider.

What's happened to Claudia is she's come along here,

there's been a drain cut into the field there,

and it's been covered in, but it's made it really, really soft,

and the horse just tripped and fell,

and she clung on for a little while, but fell off here.

It's New Year's Day and we're off to East Hall

to a crew request for a lady who's fallen off a horse.

Well, at least it makes going to work on New Year's Day all the more worth it.

Since the ban on fox hunting, the foxes are safe but it's the riders who are still in danger.

-I think I've found the hedge right here.

-Yeah.

-All right?

-That's fine.

Are we going to get over here, do you think?

29-year-old Claudia Foye was thrown by her horse.

Paramedics have been able to reach her on the back of a farmer's quad bike,

but they now need Helimed 98 to get her to hospital.

-How did she land?

-I just can't feel a thing.

On the back, on her head, on her front?

She did a roll where you do exactly that sort of position.

Claudia actually fell off the horse, foot still in the stirrup,

and dragged for a while.

Given the location and injury, we wouldn't like to put the patient through any more discomfort

trying to take them out on the back of a quad.

-That's it, now it's working.

-Claudia?

Claudia, what I'm going to do is just feel a little bit further up your leg, OK? Yeah?

Just tell me if it hurts.

Just say "Ow" if it hurts.

Claudia was out riding with the local hunt.

We were out just trail hunting,

just basically laying trails and the hounds following them,

the field following behind, it's just basically like drag hunting and cross-country for us,

so it's a good day out.

Despite the fact it's now illegal to kill foxes,

riding to hound is still very popular in North Yorkshire.

Many riders owe their lives to the air ambulance and raise money for the charity.

Claudia's hunt gives a special award each year to the person who falls off his or her horse the most.

We call it the Tumblers' Cup and every time anybody falls off

you pay £5 and it all goes to the air ambulance.

And last year we raised £1,000 which was fantastic.

So it's all good fun, good humour, but the most important thing, we do know how serious it is.

We know it's a dangerous hobby that we all have,

but at least £5 every time anybody falls off, it's a worthwhile cause.

Only 12 hours into the New Year and it's too soon to tell if Claudia will win this year's Tumblers' Cup,

but this fall will certainly cost her a £5 donation to charity.

Ready, steady, roll!

OK. Ready, steady, roll!

-OK?

-Right...

-MOANING

-It's going to be uncomfortable.

It's just because you're in the middle of the board.

I'm going to get you. Ready, steady, slide.

Claudia has broken her thigh bone and she is in a lot of pain.

She may also have neck and back injuries,

so paramedics will work to protect her neck and spine too.

-Right, Claudia...

-Yeah?

-These obviously go over your ears.

-Yeah.

-So we can't put any headsets on in the aircraft.

All right, lover.

Bye, lover, see you later.

This is not a good start to the year for Claudia.

An energetic ride in the country has ended up in a trip to hospital by air ambulance.

I'll route it my left, yeah?

If the air ambulance wasn't here, Claudia would have to be transported by quad bike

and ambulanced to hospital,

and that, with a broken femur, could have been very painful.

The ambulance

is probably about three-quarters of a mile away.

It would probably have got stuck,

to be honest, with the terrain.

We're sort of erring on the side of caution. It might be a fracture dislocation,

so we've treated for that with pain relief and we've boxed her in to keep her comfortable.

A broken thigh bone can take weeks to heal,

but Claudia's sent home after treatment and she hopes to be back in the saddle soon.

Many of the helimed team began their careers in traditional industries before retraining as paramedics.

Darren Axe was a miner, and the skills he learned as an underground first-aider still come in useful

when there's an industrial accident.

Helimed 99 is on a call to Keighley where a factory worker has crushed one of his hands

in an industrial baling machine.

We've been called to an industrial worker.

He's got his hand trapped in some heavy industrial equipment.

Apparently his hand's been quite badly crushed.

He's got a number of open injuries.

It doesn't sound like any of them are life-threatening, but they will need to be operated on fairly quickly.

The quickest way to get him to LGI, which is the plastic centre for the region, is to fly him there,

so we've been called in to give him a lift out.

But to get to their patient, pilot Steve Cobb is going to have to land in a tricky area

and in high winds.

The accident has happened in an industrial park.

Buildings, phone cables and loose objects are real hazards.

-Still clear left.

-You're clear on the right, mate.

-Still clear left.

There's lots of rubbish flying about.

Still clear left.

-10 metres left.

-Still clear right and to the rear.

I think that's it. Just bring her down.

-That's all good.

-Thank you, boys, thanks for all your help.

Massive crushing injury on his hand. It's fractured his hand, it's splayed it open.

All his digits are in different places and stuff.

he's in agony with it, bless him, so that's why we've got you to shift him off,

and we can hopefully get him straight down to theatre.

The patient is 26-year-old Gary Teasdale. His hand is badly injured. He's in considerable pain.

Paramedics Sam Burgess and Darren Axe need to get him to surgery as quickly as possible.

Try and keep that arm straight if you can, mate, all right? You're doing really well.

-That's going to stop you falling.

-Can I have some more pain relief?

He's doing all right at the moment. he has got some quite nasty injuries to his left hand.

Sounds like it's been almost totally crushed and he's got several open fractures,

so he's going to need to have surgery on it.

We're going to take him to the LGI where they can do that,

but he's still got some sensation in his fingers and a good radial pulse,

so hopefully they'll be able to salvage something.

Before they take off, the paramedics need to reduce Gary's pain.

He's in distress and struggling.

-Gaz, what you're doing now with this Entonox, that's what we want you to keep doing.

-Keep it in your mouth,

-and keep doing that.

-Breathe through it. Don't open your mouth.

-I can't...

-If you keep taking it, mate, ten good deep breaths.

-I can't.

-You can't?

-No.

-It'll come back a lot worse if you don't use it. Trust me.

Good lad!

I don't like it in my mouth.

Sam tries a different technique to ensure he takes the gas and air.

Gaz, this is going to feel a bit strange.

I'm just going to hold this over your mouth. Keep breathing.

It's just something you don't have to bite on, all right?

There's a limit to how much pain relief paramedics are allowed to give him

and Gary is still in agony.

Specialist teams here at Leeds General Infirmary are on standby to give him the best possible care.

He's had his hand trapped inside the machine that actually crushes up the packing for furniture.

Anyway, the stop switch was on the left side

and it was his left hand that was in and he couldn't get it out.

We've not seen the wound but it's quite significant.

Number of fractures, number of lacerations across that.

-As far as I'm aware he's normally fit and well.

-Yeah.

-He's not under the doctor for anything.

-He's been conscious throughout all this and the only injury we've got is this isolated hand.

-Yeah.

MOANING I've got him.

The only thing I need you to do is keep calm, OK?

Let me... That's where it is, OK?

Gary is very worried he's going to lose his hand.

-Have I lost my hand?

-No, you have not lost your hand.

Just keep breathing.

-Can you feel that?

-Just keep doing that.

-You can feel that, can you?

-Yeah.

-Does it feel normal?

Paramedic Darren's taking photographs to help the surgeons.

What about my left hand?

The left hand is going to need an operation, it's going to need a splinting,

and it's going to need a hell of a lot of physiotherapy, OK?

-I'm not going to lose my hand...?

-You can never foresee the future,

but looking at it now, I'm hopeful...

First priority will be to try and get him comfortable,

try and stabilise the fractures and get his hand in a more comfortable position,

and then he'll need some surgical treatment of the wound,

an assessment of what structures underneath have been damaged and what we can repair.

As well as medical care, many patients need reassurance in A&E,

and Gary is one of them.

I'm not going to die or anything like that, am I?

If we think you're going to die we do an awful lot more than just holding on to your hand!

-We would look worried.

-We'd do a lot more for you as well if we think you're very bad.

The surgeon who is going to fix Gary's hand has arrived.

-Did it close on all of the hand or just one side?

-All of it...all of it.

Take some deep breaths for me.

When Gary arrives in the operating theatre, surgeons find that he has broken every finger in his hand

and many other bones.

He will have to undergo many more weeks of reconstructive surgery and months of physio

before he can use his hand properly again.

I broke all my hand, broke all my fingers...

I can't describe the words for the pain.

I've never felt pain like it in my lifetime, absolutely agonising.

I looked at my hand and I was just running around...

really panicked.

I didn't look at my hand again

because I knew what sort of mess it were in.

So...my supervisor come running out, shouting, "We need an ambulance! We need an ambulance!"

and he grabbed hold of me and put me on the floor,

which...he did a fantastic job.

All my work colleagues helping me, whoever did,

absolutely brilliant, kept me calm.

I'm not one of these lads what'll sit down and feel sorry for myself.

I'll get up and get going, you know.

I'm hoping to be back at work, hopefully very soon.

My little girl just keeps on about my helicopter,

that I've been in a helicopter, and she's telling me what colour it is and everything.

Gary is a father of three and his wife is expecting another soon.

I'm trying to get out of nappies, you know, putting nappies on if I can...

a bit of bottle feeding, try and get away with that if I can!

They just want me home, to be honest, they want their daddy home.

Getting back on your bike in middle age is a growing trend among 40 and 50-somethings

chasing fitness and some fresh air.

But cycling has its dangers too.

Last years, Brit Bradley Wiggins won it and next year the Tour De France will start in Yorkshire.

Bike sales are going through the roof,

and paramedics Darrel Cullen and John Baxter aren't just armchair enthusiasts.

That looks great. Couldn't imagine riding it.

They are both dedicated riders, but fellow cyclists will be keeping them busy at work today.

On a country road in Ryedale, a local ambulance crew treating two cyclists has called in Helimed 99.

Sue was at that bend and I shouted, but obviously...

I'd never have heard you anyway.

Fortuitously I heard the crash, so I just turned round.

We're right over Sherborne. Is that the route?

-Yeah, this is the route.

-Yeah, we've gone over Lipton.

99, roger.

We're on the scene.

They've advised for us to continue to the scene, over.

Thanks for that.

Four friends were on a 30-mile ride through the winding country lanes when the accident happened.

Two are seriously injured.

Flying doctor Jez Pinnell is a member of the crew today.

Can he move this strap for a minute?

Lynn? Hello, Lynn.

It's Jez, I'm one of the doctors from the helicopter.

I just want to have a listen to your chest.

Lynn Cook has a major head injury, despite wearing all the right protective gear.

The damage is here actually, so whether...

the helmet took the full force, it looks like it was kind of on the side of that helmet

where Lynn got hit.

Lynn's cycling companion is also badly hurt, but her condition is not life-threatening.

Lynn, let's have a look in your eyes for me.

Lynn is in a bad way.

When Doctor Jez is not working for the air ambulance,

he's a consultant anaesthetist. His skills are going to be crucial today.

We could do with getting her on to the trolley.

Do you want to set up a kit for me, please?

Dr Jez is setting up a makeshift operating theatre,

and Lynn's life depends on this running like clockwork.

Run through the checklist.

So, pre-oxygenation in progress and we've got a spare cylinder there.

IV access established. Have we got an IV?

Lifepak 12 from the aircraft.

We've got a continuous ECG, SATS... non-invasives on... Suction unit switched on.

RSI drugs drawn up.

If the team doesn't anaesthetise Lynn, her head injury could lead to swelling in the brain,

and her already serious condition could become critical.

-She's normally fit and well, I'm assuming, she's a cyclist.

-Yeah.

We're going to give her an anaesthetic in a minute because she's a bit agitated at the moment.

And then we're going to fly her up to James Cook.

Jez is going to put Lynn to sleep.

It's a routine procedure in hospital. In a country lane, it's far from simple.

All right, Lynn, it's OK, love.

One set of drugs to sedate the patient, and more drugs to induce paralysis.

Then a tube is inserted between her vocal cords.

-The tube through?

-Yeah.

The team has now taken over Lynn's breathing. A bag is doing the work of her lungs.

Only now is it safe to move her to the helicopter.

But now there's another problem.

The chopper has some valuable visitors sharing their rural landing pad

and they can delay takeoff.

There's racehorses, actually, they've just turned up for a look.

They must have been on the far side when we landed, it's quite a large field.

But they've obviously become quite curious.

But the handlers are here as well, so maybe they think it's time for their dinner.

With the horses under control,

pilot Andy can start the short flight to the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough.

Dr Jez has already rung ahead to the neurosurgery unit with information about Lynn.

She'll be undergoing an immediate CT scan.

Just slide about 6 inches first.

She's had quite a significant head injury really.

She wasn't improving on scene, she was stable but wasn't getting better.

That's why the doctor knocked her out basically,

and made sure the head injury didn't get any worse.

I'll get the paperwork.

Doing all these procedures stopped any further damage, and it can be sorted out.

While Lynn was flown north to Teesside,

her cycling companion Heatha was taken south to York District Hospital.

As we came over the brow of the hill, I was looking at the view of Morthen below,

and I must have drifted to the side of the road and went off the road,

and I tried to correct myself,

and unfortunately

hit the side of the tarmac and the bike went out of control

and I went down with it.

I went along the road on my right side,

which grazed the right-hand side of my face and broke my right elbow,

then the handlebars flipped round and presumably broke my left wrist.

While all this was happening, at some point, Lynn seemed to go over the top of me,

and land in the road in front of me.

What's worrying Heatha was, although this was an accident,

she feels responsible.

At that point I was exceedingly worried about Lynn.

I felt if I hasn't drifted off the road, she would never have gone over the top of me.

Heatha needn't worry. Despite a very serious head injury that keeps her in hospital for weeks,

Lynn eventually returns home.

She has no memories of that day, and one of the first things she wants to do is find out what happened to her.

-Hello.

-I'm Jez.

-Hello. Lynn.

I do get more tired,

and there's bits of my brain not working properly.

I don't remember things...

everything, I forget words.

And I think they're coming back.

People have been extraordinarily good. I've got a speech therapist from Harrogate who's coming out,

from Harrogate Hospital, coming out and helping me.

Since the accident, Lynn and her cycling friends have decided that they want to raise money

for the Yorkshire air ambulance as a thank-you for their part in getting her to hospital so fast.

Back in the helicopter means nothing to me because I didn't know I was ever here.

I think even if we hadn't have been there and given you anaesthetic drugs,

-you probably wouldn't have remembered much about it.

-Yeah.

But we gave you an anaesthetic,

and some of the drugs we gave you as part of that anaesthetic would make you not remember it.

Every day of the year, cyclists of all ages and fitness levels are out on the roads,

pushing themselves to the limit. But some push themselves too far.

It's early on a Saturday morning and Helimed 99 is on its way to one emergency

when it's diverted to another.

99, turn around. We've got a new grid reference for a cardiac arrest up at Malham for you. Over.

-Have we got another job?

-Yeah, cardiac arrest.

-Where's this?

-Malham.

-Malham? I'm going to turn right now, then.

Yeah, I'm just trimming the grid now.

A cyclist has collapsed. He's covered in blood and his heart has stopped.

Whereabouts is it at Malham?

-Just to the south of the actual town.

-Oh, yeah.

-New Lane.

-It's the other side of the village.

-Yeah.

-Right.

We just went over to him and tried to get him breathing again,

and then the paramedic who was just down the bottom of the road, fantastic, was here within 5 minutes

and we started CPR.

The ambulance crew was able to shock the man's heart back into rhythm.

What's causing the fits isn't clear, but they could be connected to his head injury.

He seemed to collapse. He keeled over on his bike.

So we think it was a heart attack, because he was just lying...

It appeared as if he wasn't breathing,

and after sort of about 60 seconds...

We'll get him scooped. Load it down, guys, a bit.

The cyclist is Michael McConville. He's fitting and he's having difficulty breathing.

He's in a bad state.

OK, keep him up, keep him up, keep him up!

There we go!

He's got this head injury.

Paramedic Darrel isn't sure whether this is a heart attack or the result of a head injury.

Flying into Leeds will mean he can be seen by consultants in both specialties.

Any idea of the time?

-Give you that as soon as we get airborne.

-OK, mate.

Michael's condition is worsening. He's showing signs of a condition called hypoxia,

a lack of oxygen to the brain. It's common in heart patients who've had to wait before CPR was started.

Getting him down to emergency resus is vital.

Hello.

He's been in cardiac arrest since the arrival of the first medical person on the scene.

-OK.

-He's been shocked, times one, VF, into a normal sinus rhythm.

OK, we're ready to go. Come on, let's get him sedated.

Please give me the Propofol now.

Propofol is a powerful drug used to quickly sedate a patient.

It's not possible to treat Michael until his seizures are under control.

Fortunately, they've managed to get a line into his bone,

so they managed to sedate him and they're going to pop him off to sleep now.

Michael is sent for brain scans and X-rays and spends a further week in intensive care.

It's another ten days before he is up and about and out of bed.

He is not able to recall much from the day of the accident.

The cycling club had organised a weekend away in Malham.

We did about 40 miles on Friday afternoon, got to the top of the hill in my own time,

waited at the top of the hill, made sure everybody was there,

set off again, and...that was that.

Didn't go any further than the top of the hill.

One of the main arteries supplying Michael's heart was blocked.

Luckily for him, a fellow cyclist recognised what was happening and managed to resuscitate him

with the help of an ambulance crew covering an event nearby.

When it happened they must have been shocked,

because they weren't expecting anything like that to happen to anybody.

Cos everybody who goes out on these rides, we've all been out riding for years,

and we're all very, very fit.

OK, keep him up, keep him up, keep him up!

You just wouldn't believe how grateful I was to everybody who was there.

The full team, you know, the paramedics and the air ambulance people,

absolutely superb job, the lot of them.

And getting here was brilliant, they've done a superb job. Can't ask for more.

And you don't even have to be riding your bike to be injured,

as one off-road cyclist found out in the Yorkshire Dales.

50-year-old Lisa Wake has injured her ankle while mountain-biking.

-What's your name?

-Lisa.

-Lisa.

-It's a spiral fracture.

-Oh, right.

-You've diagnosed yourself already?

-Yeah.

-Good stuff. Right.

A spiral fracture occurs when a bone is twisted until it breaks.

It can take a long time to heal.

So you were just actually stepping back and you slipped...

Yeah, my whole weight went on my left leg.

-Have you hurt yourself anywhere else?

-No.

-OK.

Having a patient who makes a self-diagnosis is not unusual, but Lisa is a former nurse,

so she may just be correct.

What's your pain scale like? It might be a stupid question.

It's probably only about 3.

-3?

-It's OK.

-Right.

Shall we give you a bit of this gas and air, though, just to take that 3 off?

-Cos when we start to move you...

-I know.

When we were about 100 yards away and we could see somebody on the floor,

we realised that it was not good, because she didn't seem to be moving.

-What are you sticking in?

-Morphine.

-Cos I reckon when we start to move you...

-I'm going to scream.

You're going to start being a bit unhappy with me, aren't you?

It soon emerges that this isn't Lisa's first injury.

Just two weeks ago, she broke two ribs.

-How did you do your ribs?

-Mountain biking.

Is somebody trying to tell you summat?

This is her first day back out, 13 days after.

An X-ray in hospital will confirm or contradict Lisa's diagnosis,

but it's plain to see that she needs urgent treatment.

It's still not circulating yet.

We can't really assess it properly until we get her flipped over.

Hello!

You all right?

Just getting back on the push cycle, she's not been riding it.

She's slipped off the pedal and then obviously her foot's gone underneath.

I think it might be a dislocation but we can't obviously know.

We're just going to get her over basically.

With an extra pair of hands, the team manage to get Lisa on to a spinal stretcher.

Despite the morphine, she's still in a lot of pain.

The flight to the Leeds General Infirmary will take just ten minutes,

and it turns out Lisa is right.

She does have a spiral fracture

which will keep her out of the saddle for several months.

Recovering at home, Lisa now knows that a little medical knowledge can be a worrying thing

when you're the patient.

I knew that I had to lay still,

I knew I had to get warm and I knew that I needed an ambulance.

And I also knew that there was a big risk

because the way that my leg felt,

like my knee seemed to be in one direction

and the bottom half of my leg seemed to be in another direction,

and I knew that I couldn't look at it because I would probably black out if I did,

and I knew there was a risk that I might lose the blood supply to my foot,

so getting an ambulance there sort of quickly was really important.

It's not something I'm going to let stop me.

I maybe just need to go a bit slower for a while.

Yorkshire's dales and fells help attract the millions of tourists who come here,

but steep hills and machinery do not mix.

Helimed 99 is on an emergency call to a farm just outside Wakefield.

A 72-year-old farmer is trapped under a digger.

Pensioner Mel Jackson was helping out on the family farm when the mini digger turned over.

Now paramedics are trying to free him from his cab.

He's broken his leg.

The digger was struggling a bit

and he were pulling it as much as he could,

and it just obviously tipped over.

-He's stationary and he's just fell sidewards.

-Right.

-All right.

-So we're looking... He's got pain left knee up to just below left femur.

-Right.

Mel has a nasty break to the femur,

a life-threatening injury as the bone could sever an artery.

His son tried to get him out.

He'd landed on door, you know, door was shut.

So I broke the glass, obviously, to pull him out,

but he said he couldn't move because his leg was in that much pain.

So that's when we phoned the ambulance.

-Is that pain going down at all, Mel?

-No.

-No?

-It just aches there.

-There?

It goes all the way up here.

It's femur, that.

-It's here.

-I think it is going to be a femur, Dave.

Fire crews have looked at ways of lifting the digger.

But on a muddy hillside, the fastest way to get Mel out is to carefully drag him out of his cab.

He's going to need more powerful painkillers.

Flying doctor Andy Poutney will use a very strong nerve-blocking drug

which will completely numb Mel's broken leg.

-How are you doing?

-Where's that hurting you?

Just that...in-between my knee...

-Where it was before? Between your and knee and your...

-Yeah.

We should be able to extricate him now.

He seems quite stable.

Hopefully,, this is his only injury

but we're going to do the usual and make sure he's fully immobilised as we bring him out.

In a minute or two that should start to get a bit better for you, all right?

And that'll allow us to get you out.

You've got as much pain relief as we can do now, so I'm only warning you, all right?

Cross fingers and think of England.

Ready, steady, move.

MEL CRIES IN PAIN

We're just going to pop him in this sleeping bag to keep him warm.

-Can you get that level?

-We'll get you up here, we'll get you a bit warmer, then we'll sort it out.

Mel has been farming all his life. This is his first serious accident.

Paramedics can't give nerve-blockers.

You need good knowledge of the anatomy and where the nerves and things are,

and there's also the potential risk of complications from some of the drugs we use,

particularly if the patient's very sensitive to them

or has a toxic reaction to them,

or if, inadvertently, they get put into a blood vessel.

That can cause, you know, very serious reactions,

so, yeah, that's something which I could bring which the paramedics weren't able to do today.

It's going to take a few months for his leg to mend,

and it'll be a long time before he's allowed back on to the farm.

Mel spent several days in Leeds General Infirmary before being allowed home.

And I'm pleased to tell you, doctors say Mel will be fit enough to help out on the farm again soon.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd