We don't always need to convey a patient by helicopter for them to receive expert critical care from us. Margaret Paramore describes her accident in the first part of 2020 - just before lockdown.
Margaret and her husband John had been in their garden cutting trees for firewood when, in Margaret’s words, ‘The chainsaw went into a massive wobble and flew up, catching my face in its path.’ The incident caused severe facial injuries, for which Margaret needed emergency help.
With Margaret bleeding profusely, John had to leave her at the scene to seek help before getting as many clean towels as possible to stem the flow of blood. The couple’s relief at the arrival of the First Responder and land ambulance crew was swiftly followed by further relief at the sound of the Air Ambulance landing in a neighbouring field.
“I was conscious throughout,” explained Margaret. “I even remember saying to the paramedics that I needed to spend a penny before I could go anywhere!”
All the medics on scene worked together to assist Margaret, and aware of the blood that she was still losing, the Air Ambulance team realised that it would be safer to transfer her to hospital by land ambulance so that Margaret could remain seated, instead of her laying on a stretcher in the helicopter. Along with aircrew paramedic, Chris Saunders, Margaret left by road to head for Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital.
John followed by car. He waited for three hours in A&E before being advised that Margaret would be in surgery most of the night and that he would be better off coming back the next day.
It was absolutely horrible,” John said. “It had been such a terrible shock. I could see that the chainsaw had gone right down to the bone of Margaret’s nose, and it was only her glasses that had saved the blades from taking out her eyes. I still get flashbacks now.
During a six-hour operation, surgeons rebuilt Margaret’s nose. Her first memory after the journey to hospital was waking up in Intensive Care the following day. Her first thought was for her husband of 63 years.
I really felt sorry for poor John – who saw the whole thing happen. It was just one of those things but because I’m on blood thinners, the blood loss was terrible.
Since the accident, in March 2020, Margaret’s injuries have largely healed, with just a slight hare lip to contend with.
“It makes eating awkward,” explained Margaret, “But I’ve been advised that I will be able to have it repaired when the Covid-19 virus is behind us. Without the expert help I had at the scene and in hospital, things could have been a whole lot worse.”
Margaret and John are both former top-amateur road racing cycle champions and despite both being octogenarians still feel they have plenty more miles to do before they hang up their bikes.
Margaret said, “I’ve not been back on my bike since the accident but I’m certainly hoping to, once I’m fully recovered. What with Covid-19 as well as my accident, we’ve had a very quiet summer. Our biggest highlight was a day out watching a horse whisperer working wonders with a beautiful Portuguese ‘Lusitano’ horse that our daughter owns. Having known that the horse had been almost feral when he first came to the UK, and completely unused to being handled, it was absolutely incredible to see how much he had changed and developed in a few short months.
Meanwhile, I’m just so grateful that I’ve survived to see another Christmas and remain ever-grateful to those who came to my rescue back in March.
