An unexpected challenge for Sara

Sara sat on the grass to catch her breath, but when her symptoms did not improve, she called her husband for help. Sara wasn’t making much sense during the phone call, so her husband, Gus, set off to find her. She called for an ambulance and gave them her what3words location to make it easier for the emergency responders to locate her in the remote area.  

What3words is an application that enables a user to share their precise location. The app divides the world into units of 3 metre squares. Attributed to each unit is a unique 3-word address that will never change, irrespective of how the landscape in the assigned grid changes.  

For example, ///nightlife.decide.crescendo marks the helipad of the Exeter Devon Air Ambulance airbase. 

Sara said, ‘what3words is an amazing app, it is a must have for everyone! There was a non-vehicle access road to the land, but it had become very wet and rough with the weather and an ambulance would not have been able to use it. Giving them my exact what3words location was the best thing we could do.’ 

Sara began to feel very sick and describes her symptoms as ‘the worst headache you could ever imagine.’ After an hour and a half, the land ambulance crew arrived. Suspecting that Sara may have suffered a stroke and worrying about access to the land, they requested the assistance of Devon Air Ambulance (DAA).  

The air ambulance arrived swiftly and landed at the top of the hill, a steep climb from Sara with two barbed-wire fences between them. After assessing her condition and administering pain relief, the DAA crew, along with the land ambulance crew, carried Sara back to the helicopter where she was conveyed to Bristol North Hospital. Sara said: 

There was a team at the hospital waiting for me and I was very overwhelmed by the speed and organisation of all the medical staff from the minute the air ambulance crew arrived.

Sara was taken to the emergency department where she received various tests to rule out a stroke. Here she was told that luckily, she had not suffered a stroke and instead had experienced a ‘thunderclap headache’. 

A thunderclap headache is a severe headache that strikes suddenly reaching maximum intensity within seconds to minutes. Patients often describe it as the worst headache of one’s life. Thunderclap headaches typically occur without warning and can be accompanied by symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and visual disturbances causing them to be easily mistaken for a stroke. Sara added, 

The DAA crew was absolutely amazing, so positive and jolly. That really helped to keep me calm. I could not thank them enough getting me to hospital so quickly!

Sara was discharged the same night and felt very humbled by the efficiency of the emergency department and all the staff she encountered at Bristol North.  

Sara completed the Jurassic 30 walk, part of Climb South West’s Jurassic Coast 100 challenge in June 2024 walking 30km from Beer to Exmouth along the Southwest Coastal Path. And, in August 2024, she also made it to Scotland to complete the linear walk from Aultbea to Poolewe as part of the Great Wildnerness Challenge.