6 Dec 2018
“From what height have you fallen?” the lady on the 999 line was persistent in finding out.
“About five or six metres,” I mumbled. I could hardly breathe.
Soon after the call I heard the sound of helicopter blades.
“Oh my God, what sort of condition must I be in,” I remember thinking as the noise got louder.
Michael, the father of four, slipped off a ladder and plunged from the loft level to the ground floor of his family house while renovating. “I landed on my back and broke six transverse processes in my spine and three ribs. Later, I found out that London’s Air Ambulance automatically attends falls from heights of above five metres as they tend to result in serious injury.
“I could feel my legs which was a big relief but the pain in my right hip was unbearable. The paramedics gave me pain killers, including morphine but it was only when the doctor from London’s Air Ambulance gave me ketamine that they were able to put me on the stretcher. We were at The Royal London Hospital in four minutes. “
“Living and working in London, I have seen London’s Air Ambulance many times. But you don’t think this is going to happen to you until…well…it happens.
“When the helicopter landed behind my house, I knew I was in the best possible hands and I knew everything that could be done, would be done.”
“We have lived in our house for the last 12 years and my parents and my sister live only a few doors down the road. When my accident happened, many of my relatives rushed to my side and saw the amazing work of London’s Air Ambulance first hand.”
“Our family decided that once we have finished renovating the house and move back in, we will throw a fundraising party for London’s Air Ambulance with raffle and collection pots at the door. The oldest of my four daughters, Corrin, did a 13,000ft skydive in aid of the charity and we arranged for London’s Air Ambulance to visit the school of our youngest two. Anything we can do to help and make sure that the same level of care I received is available to others, should they need it.”
