Emily's story

On 27 July 2018, Emily was leaving her boyfriend’s flat in Crystal Palace, on her way to a work festival, when she was struck by a car while walking on the pavement.

A witness saw Emily thrown in the air before landing and hitting her head on the pavement. She was immediately unconscious, her airway compromised and she was struggling to breathe. 

Due to the nature of the incident, London’s Air Ambulance’s advanced trauma team was dispatched to the scene to assist London Ambulance Service (LAS) paramedics. When our team arrived, LAS were keeping Emily’s airway open, giving her oxygen and siting intravenous access. It was clear Emily was critically injured. 

Our crew identified and confirmed that Emily had likely sustained a severe traumatic brain injury as well as a fracture to the back of her skull. They placed her into an induced coma to protect and preserve her airway, ensure maximum delivery of oxygen to her lungs – and consequently her brain – and allow control and monitoring of her carbon dioxide levels. This was all done to ultimately prevent Emily from having a secondary brain injury and is something only our crew can do on scene in London. She was then taken to King’s College Hospital by road.

In hospital it was confirmed that Emily had sustained a severe traumatic brain injury. She required an operation to remove part of her skull to reduce the pressure in her brain and was then admitted to the intensive care unit. She remained in an induced coma for three weeks.

“I remember waking up from the coma, hearing machines beeping and being so confused,” said Emily. “I have no memory of the accident at all.”

Emily remained at King’s College Hospital for seven months, at which she was transferred to Amersham Hospital to begin rehabilitation.

“Rehab was tough. The first day I arrived, I explained to the staff that I didn’t think I would ever be able to walk again.”

In June 2019, Emily underwent a cranioplasty, which is a procedure to replace the piece of her skull that had been previously removed. She then spent four more months in a second rehabilitation centre.

It was there that Emily was diagnosed with Pseudobulbar affect (PBA), a condition that is characterised by episodes of sudden uncontrollable laughing or crying. “I have the ‘laughing symptom’ which is a result of my brain injury. I now get very giggly when I’m anxious or stressed. It can be inappropriate if it happens when someone tells me something sad, but it’s something I’m learning to manage,” said Emily.

With determination and strength, Emily worked hard and concentrated on rebuilding her life. After over a year of hospitalisation and rehab and with the help of her family and friends, Emily relearnt how to talk, eat and walk again. She is now home and studying for a nutrition degree.

“I want to help neurodivergent people and people with acquired brain injuries as I believe the brain needs a healthy eating lifestyle to be able to thrive. I feel pretty much how I did before, if not a little better as I’m more aware of the little things we take for granted.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst London’s Air Ambulance Charity had to pause their face-to-face fundraising, Emily took to raising vital funds by making cards. 

“I wanted to raise money for London’s Air Ambulance Charity as I knew just how valuable they were. It was also a little art therapy for me, as it helped the function in my left hand.” 

In summer 2022, Emily continued her incredible efforts and participated in our Miles for Missions challenge after seeing it advertised on social media.

In total, Emily walked 284 miles in six weeks.

“It was a great achievement, especially as I didn’t think I would ever walk again just a couple of years beforehand.”

“I picked 284 because that is how many feet high London’s Air Ambulance’s helipad is. It was a fun challenge and Pip my Havanese enjoyed it too.” 

Throughout her fundraising, Emily has raised £3,500 for London’s Air Ambulance Charity, which is enough to cover more than one whole mission for another patient.

At the end of her walking challenge, Emily visited the helipad and met the paramedic who attended to her. “It was amazing to meet Lee and just great to visit the helipad.”

We’re so glad Emily has made such an amazing recovery, and so thankful for all her fundraising efforts. We wish her and her family the very best for the future.