Angela Brearley

A professional Mountain Biker injured deep in Sheffield woods is to appear on Helicopter ER next on Tuesday night (1st November).

Davi Birks was out mountain biking in a Sheffield woodland when he came off his bike after colliding with a tree and was knocked unconscious.

“I remember riding the quite technical descent into the woods, but after that I can’t remember anything”, said Davi.

While he was in and out of consciousness, Davi was able to get on his bike and flag down a dog walker to call for help. The emergency services were called, as well as Davi’s mountain biking friend who lived near and was able to pinpoint his location.

Due to the dense woodland and the remote location, Yorkshire Air Ambulance was dispatched. It was thanks to the app What3words, which provided the emergency services with his exact location, that he was found.

What3Words is an app that has divided the world into 57 trillion squares and given each square a unique three-word address that can be found using GPS. When a caller is unable to identify where they are, they can pass the three words generated by the app to the emergency services and they will be able to track their location within a three-mile radius.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance crew assessed Davi and with fears that he had sustained serious chest damage he was flown to Sheffield Northern General for further treatment.

Doctors at the Northern General Hospital revealed that Davi had broken eight ribs, severely displaced his shoulder, and sustained multiple punctures to his lungs.

Speaking of his recovery, Davi said: “Recovery has been pretty tough. I’m used to leading a pretty active lifestyle so to have that taken away from you is really hard.” It was six months before Davi was back on his bike.

“Mountain biking means everything to me. I’ve always been around mountain bikes from riding motocross when I was younger to now working in the Mountain Biking industry. It’s a big part of my life. Without mountain biking, part of my identity has been taken away, but slowly and surely, I’m getting back into it”, he said.

Davi’s flight with Yorkshire Air Ambulance wasn’t his first time using an air ambulance service. Three years ago, Davi had an incident at loch Ness where he nearly drowned.

Davi’s incident will be featured on the Yorkshire Air Ambulance reality television show Helicopter ER, on Tuesday 1^st November at 9 pm. The episode also features an injured veteran motorcyclist and a mum-to-be injured by a driver under the influence of alcohol.

Read more YAA News HERE.

A Huddersfield teenager knocked off his bike whilst cycling home from school is set to appear on Helicopter ER this week.

14-year-old Conor Morgan was cycling home from school with his twin brother to his home near Brackenhall when he collided with a car coming out of a junction. He was trapped under the car in the pouring rain until the ambulance arrived.

Due to his nasty leg injury, Yorkshire Air Ambulance dispatched their helicopter with a consultant and specialist Paramedics on board. An examination on-scene revealed that Conor had severely fractured his femur and had to have his leg manipulated back into place in the back of an ambulance before being taken to hospital for further treatment

Speaking of his incident, Conor said: “My brother called mum and the police, and a couple of minutes later the ambulance came and I was put on the stretcher and taken to the hospital. My brother is my twin brother and we’ve been together 14 years, my time in the hospital was the first time I was away from him for a few days.”

Jovana Morgan, Conor’s mum said: “I was quite shocked and taken aback to see the helicopter and I thought it must have been serious for them to land.”

A decision was made for Conor to be taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary via land ambulance, a short journey from where he had his accident. He was rushed into surgery where surgeons fixed his thigh bone with metal rods, and he spent three days in the hospital.

It has been a long and tough recovery for Conor as he had to learn to walk again, initially with a walking frame and then on crutches. “It was very painful. I started with a frame and then I moved on to two crutches and then one crutch. It took six or seven months until my leg was healed”, said Conor.

But as Conor wasn’t wearing a helmet, the outcome could have been much worse. He has since made a full recovery, but the impact of the incident has left both Conor and his brother cautious about using their bicycles.

Speaking of Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Jovana said: “They are a very valuable resource and if Conor had been much worse, it was good to know that there was an alternative mode of transport to get him the treatment he required.”

Yorkshire Air Ambulance provides a life-saving rapid response emergency service to five million people across four million acres of Yorkshire.

A teenage footballer left with a serious leg injury sustained in a freak accident when a football tackle went wrong, has thanked the Yorkshire Air Ambulance crew who came to his rescue at a recent friendly match in Flixton, near Scarborough.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance provides a life-saving rapid response emergency service to five million people across four million acres of Yorkshire.

On 25^h September 2022, Harry Sollitt-Bevan from Pickering, who was 15 years old at the time, was playing football for his local under 16-year-olds football team when he went in for a tackle and accidentally ended up with a double compound leg fracture.

Julian Bevan, Harry’s dad, said: “There was no malice, it was a 50/50 challenge that simply went wrong. Harry was incredibly brave, he never cried or said anything, he just got on with it. I think I was struggling more than him!”

The football club called the emergency services and due to the serious nature of the fracture, Yorkshire Air Ambulance was dispatched. After administering vital pain relief, a decision was made to fly Harry to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough for further treatment.

As soon as he arrived at the hospital, Harry was rushed in for emergency surgery to clean the wound and a second operation took place the next day to pin his leg. Harry had nearly 16 hours of surgery and was in the hospital for two weeks. He is currently wearing a Lazarus frame to help his injury heal.

Recovery for Harry is still in the very early stages. However, he does have his mind set on fundraising for the charity that came to his aid when he is better.

“As soon as we reached the hospital, Harry said that he wanted to fundraise for the air ambulance. I don’t think he even realised how much they rely on public generosity until we had a chat about ideas”, said Julian.

Speaking of Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Julian said: “Everyone involved in his care has been amazing and that started on the pitch with Yorkshire Air Ambulance. They were brilliant and we cannot thank them enough for picking Harry up and taking him to the hospital.”

Yorkshire Air Ambulance responds to an average of four incidents every single day and last year, the Charity treated 1,700 patients across Yorkshire. To find out how you can support Yorkshire Air Ambulance and to read more patient stories, please visit: https://www.yorkshireairambulance.org.uk/

A mountain biker from Holmfirth, near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire who was paralysed from the chest down after colliding with a tree, is to appear on the television series Helicopter ER this week.

Bruce Wilson, 56, was mountain biking with his son in dense woodland above Todmorden, West Yorkshire. He was attempting some jumps and travelling towards one when he overshot it and ended up colliding with a tree.

Recalling his incident Bruce said: “I was on my mountain bike and doing jumps with my son. I remember my son telling me to brake for this jump as it was a big gap jump and I thought there was no way I’d have to brake for that. Then I overjumped it. I was too high, too far for the landing ramp and after that my memory is wiped out. “

Due to the remote location of the incident, Yorkshire Air Ambulance dispatched one of its helicopters. As the incident was deep in the forest, the crew was driven from the aircraft by the local Mountain Rescue team to help injured Bruce.

Alarmingly, Bruce couldn’t feel his legs and had sustained other serious injuries; therefore, a decision was made to fly him to Leeds General Infirmary for further assessment and treatment. A crew of Mountain Rescue volunteers and air ambulance medics stretchered him out of the forest to the helicopter which was waiting for half a mile away.

Tests at the hospital revealed that the fall had broken six of Bruce’s vertebrae and permanently damaged his spinal cord. As a result of his injuries, Bruce has been left paralysed from the chest down.

Bruce spent six months in the hospital, most of which was in a specialist spinal unit. He now uses a wheelchair and is trying to find a new house that is accessible to him. Despite his ordeal, he is recovering well.

“I was a firefighter, and it was something I really enjoyed doing, but I’ve lost that now that I’m paralysed. Being in a wheelchair, you don’t realise how difficult it is until it happens to you. I’m just lucky that the emergency teams found me and pulled together to help me through this”, said Bruce.

Speaking of Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Bruce said: “As a firefighter, I had attended quite a lot of incidents with the air ambulance. They do a fantastic job. A week before my incident, I was on my way home when I passed a horse-riding incident. I pulled over in my car and their neighbour called me over to help carry the stretcher to the air ambulance. Little did I know that I would be airlifted the following week.”

Bruce’s incident will be broadcast on the Yorkshire Air Ambulance reality television show on Tuesday 18th October at 9pm. The episode also features a motorcyclist’s head-on collision with a car and a champion jockey seriously injured after falling from his horse.

Sammy Wills, Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s (YAA) longest-serving HEMS Paramedic has celebrated her 20-year anniversary at the Charity.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance is a lifesaving rapid response emergency service serving five million people across 4 million acres of Yorkshire. Last year, the crew responded to more than 1,700 incidents across the region.

Sammy joined the Charity on 21^st September 2002 when Yorkshire Air Ambulance was in its infancy, flying from Leeds Bradford Airport where the YAA base was a small Portakabin.

“When I started at Yorkshire Air Ambulance, no one recognised that we are a charity; they wouldn’t have thought to have put the two words together. Now we’re recognisable all over the world”, said Sammy.

Reliving her first day at the air ambulance, she said: “I finished my training on the Friday at Leeds Bradford Airport and the duty crew asked me if I had passed. Then they asked if I could do them a favour and swap my shift to work the next day. I remember my first job was a road traffic collision on a roundabout in Leeds and one of the occupants was heavily pregnant. Luckily, all the occupants were fine, and the pregnant lady was taken to the hospital as a precaution. It was a gentle introduction to the HEMS world.”

Sammy is one of the only current YAA staff members to have experienced flying on all three models of YAA helicopters. “I have always loved aviation from being a kid and I have had the privilege of flying on every single air ambulance Yorkshire has had. Initially, we rented and now we own both our aircraft, which is a credit to the Charity. A lot has changed over the years; we have really enhanced the style of the aircraft and we have a lot more space to treat patients. The first thing I noticed when we upgraded to G-SASH and G-CEMS from our first Bolkbow, was that the new helicopters didn’t smell like museum pieces! When I first flew G-PASG, it smelt like aircraft that you used to visit at a museum. It genuinely did smell of old aviation fuel and electrics.”

It is not only the helicopters that have changed over the past 20 years but also paramedics’ skillset and the equipment used on board. Yorkshire Air Ambulance is also celebrating their first year of having the largest female HEMS crew since the Charity’s inception.

“At one point I was the only female crew member and now we’ve taken over a whole corner of the locker room,” Sammy jested.

Speaking of their enhanced skillset, Sammy spoke of a recent thought-provoking mission: “It was only recently when I attended a particular job that I realised how far the Charity has come in the last 20 years. We did everything we could for the patient and there was nothing else known to man that we could have done that wouldn’t have been performed in the hospital. We had the whole team working on the patient as best we could. It was like a milestone. When I look at what we did 20 years ago to what we do now, we as a charity and as a service have made great strides forward. We didn’t even have morphine on board when I started.”

Over the last 20 years, Sammy has become one of the Charity’s most recognised and loved HEMs Paramedics, achieving fame on the hit television show Helicopter ER. “I do get stopped a lot, especially when the series is on. It’s always nice to be able to say thank-you to our supporters. What is embarrassing though, is when you get recognised in your swimming costume when you are abroad! I’ve even been on a bus in Kenya and a Scottish lady turned round and said I know you, you’re on the helicopter.”

Speaking of why she is proud to have worked at YAA for the last 20 years, Sammy said: “Because it’s a privilege to help people on the worst day of their lives and support them with the state-of-the-art aircraft and clinical training and with the best Critical Care Team available, alongside the colleagues who you have total faith in, and do your very best as a complete team. It’s not just about getting there fast or flying them quickly to the hospital, it’s the team that works together, drills together, eats together and plays together that helps that individual or whole families by performing together on the job.”

Sammy’s 20 years at Yorkshire Air Ambulance isn’t her only milestone; in January 2023 she will also celebrate 30 years of being a Paramedic at Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Peter Sunderland, Chairman of Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to congratulate Sammy and express our huge gratitude and thanks for her 20 years of dedication to our Charity. Sammy’s enthusiasm for her role never falters and she is an asset to our crew and a firm part of the greater YAA family.”

Sammy can also be seen in the latest series of Helicopter ER which is currently airing on Channel Really on Tuesdays at 9pm.

Gill and Dave Horn were riding to the Lake District when their bike collided with a car turning into a right junction. The incident was caught on dashcam, and the couple were catapulted from their saddles onto a grass verge.

Speaking of the incident, Dave said: “I have no memory of it at all. The only memory I have is waking up in the hospital and wondering why am I there? I was lucky that I had a camera on my bike because I don’t remember it, and I don’t relate it to my accident. It was only when I saw Gill being thrown off the back of the bike on the footage that I realised it was us.”

Due to the remote area of the incident, Yorkshire Air Ambulance was dispatched. The crew treated both Dave and Gill and as Gill’s injuries were less severe, a decision was made for her to be transported to the hospital via land ambulance and Dave was flown to the Royal Preston Hospital for further treatment.

Tests at the hospital revealed that Dave had suffered a catalogue of serious injuries including a bleed on the brain, a punctured lung, a ruptured spleen, a broken ankle and several broken ribs. Gill had broken two ribs and suffered severe bruising.

Dave and Gill are still recovering from their injuries and the impact of the collision has weighed heavily on their finances as they both had to take considerable time off work.

“I’m here now, what does it matter? Money isn’t everything”, said Gill.  When asked about his wife and how it feels since the incident, Dave said: “Gill is very precious to me and sometimes I still come over to give her a hug just because I can. You don’t realise how much you are loved until something like this happens.”

Speaking of Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Dave said: “I’m sat here today because of their expertise. They are a fantastic charity.”

Gill and Dave’s incident will be broadcast on the Yorkshire Air Ambulance reality television show on Tuesday 11^th October at 9 pm. The episode also features a farmer crushed by an overturned tractor and a car crash with a drystone wall.

A 14-year-old from Market Weighton has raised £1,165 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) is a life-saving rapid response emergency service providing emergency care to 5 million people across 4 million acres of Yorkshire.

Austin Beasty, an avid motocross rider and gymnast, and was aware of the vital work Yorkshire Air Ambulance carries out from his motocross community. His older brother Jaygo was in fact air lifted after breaking his femur in Devon back in 2017. Sadly, earlier this year Jaygo passed away and Austin decided to give back and raise funds for the Charity in Jaygo’s memory.

To raise the money, Austin shaved off his long curly hair, and then undertook a joint fundraiser with his no-for-profit gymnastics club, Wolds Gymnastics in Driffield where he backflipped 76 times in 7.6 minutes, representing the 76 miles of three back-back peaks that some of his fellow gymnasts hiked.

Speaking of her son’s achievements, Austin’s Mum Tracey, said: “Yorkshire Air Ambulance is an amazing organisation and we’ve always supported them, especially in the sports that we’re into. We’re so proud of Austin.”

Rob Scott, East Yorkshire Regional Fundraiser at YAA, said: “We would like to say a big well done and thank you to Austin for supporting Yorkshire Air Ambulance, alongside his family and friends who have supported his challenges. It’s great to see young people, who are the fundraisers of tomorrow, getting involved in charity fundraising.

It costs £12,000 a day to keep both Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and, in the air, and the money raised helps keep us airborne and saving lives across the region.”