“I am so thankful to Essex and Herts Air Ambulance for saving my husband’s life”
On 2nd June 2019 Andrew Bord from Bushey was taking a shower when he blacked out and fell.
Andy’s wife Emma explains:
“Nobody is sure whether he blacked out and had a seizure because he banged his head, or whether his seizure began as he lost consciousness. Whatever happened, I heard a thud and rushed up to find him shaking, with a huge amount of blood pouring from his head.
“I went downstairs, screamed for help and rang 999. My neighbour took our two young children aged 1 and 3 who thankfully didn’t see anything, away to look after them. I rushed upstairs and followed the instructions from the 999 team to try help my husband. After the seizure he started becoming quite aggressive, shouting and pushing whilst having no idea who I was, which is apparently quite a normal reaction to a head injury. I was holding a towel over the bleeding, but it was difficult to hold him down at this point.
“A land ambulance arrived, followed quickly by the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT), which was able to land in the field behind our house. I was shocked to see it arrive as whilst I knew my husband was in an awful state the knowledge of the helicopter made it feel even more serious.”
When Pre-hospital Care Doctor Katja Ruecker and Critical Care Paramedic James Samouelle arrived they quickly identified that they had to treat the large wound on Andy’s head and give him a pre-hospital anaesthetic in order to take over his breathing. This would start the process of reducing his brain injury and prevent, as best as possible, any further harm.
Emma says:
“Katja was amazingly calm, and made an awful situation seem less horrific. She quickly sedated Andy which was extremely frightening for me – the words ‘coma’ make you think the worst. However this was to make it easier for them to staple his wound and also apparently to let his brain relax from the trauma. In retrospect she clearly did a great job as this had allowed him to calm down and the scar is minimal now.”
While Andrew was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital, Emma was taken by police car.
Emma continues:
“I was surprised that he was being taken so far, however it was a specialist hospital and the air ambulance got there in 8 minutes which is absolutely amazing and definitely helped save him.
“When I arrived I feared the worst, or if not, that he may have a severe brain injury and not be able to remember my name. Unbelievably he has made an amazing recovery. He was back home within a few days and after a few weeks he was nearly back to his old self.
“EHAAT is an utterly amazing service and I am so thankful to them for saving my husband’s life. I can’t thank them enough for everything. The doctors on the helicopter, the speed of their work and the decisions they made were simply amazing”
Even though 2nd June 2019 became one of the worst days of Andy and Emma’s life together they have since celebrated one of the best moments with the happy arrival of their third child in 2020.
“Having another child is our little miracle after what happened, and I pinch myself sometimes with the knowledge that it could have been so different. I will forever be grateful for the team who saved us.”
Emma, supported by many friends and family, has gone on to raise funds for the charity by leading a virtual personal training session and is now also hoping to run a marathon in aid of EHAAT.
To support the lifesaving work of air ambulance charities across the UK, please visit our donation page or to directly support Essex and Herts Air Ambulance click here.
Thank you.
