Arthur's Story

On THAT terrible day 10 years ago, Arthur was run over by a tractor and was to experience his first air ambulance flight to the hospital, never thinking in his wildest dreams he would require the service again.

But, while on an annual campervan holiday in the Clutha Valley in March, Arthur missed his footing whilst stepping out of an old disused church, that saw him take a tumble and require divine assistance for a second time.  “I forgot about the step,” he smiled wryly.

In exteme pain, Arthur had to wait until medics arrived to transport him to Balclutha Hospital.  An examination discovered two fractured ribs requiring further assessment at Dunedin Hospital, but due to the unavailability of an ambulance, a painful journey in his own vehicle was the only option.

Abandoning their campervan, Arthur and wife, May, drove to Dunedin Hospital in the little vehicle that they had been towing around with them.  Once there, a further examination revealed he had actually broken his back.  The holiday was over as he lay in a hospital bed for the next 10 days coping with severe pain.  “I could hardly move,” he said.

The Garrod’s, hailing from Waiuku, South Auckland, couldn’t have been further away from home and getting Arthur back up north was a pressing need.  A domestic flight as a seated passenger was completely out of the question, therefore the medical team dispatched the Hamilton-based Westpac Air Ambulance, crewed by full-time flight nurses and the latest in aero-medical equipment, to transfer Arthur from Dunedin to Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital.

“The flight was terrific,” he said. “After all my pain in the hospital, I felt nothing at all on the flight.  It never hurt one bit!”

Arthur transferred between Middlemore Hospital and Pukekohe Rehabilitation Unit for the next couple of months during which time he had an operation to have screws inserted to fuse the break.

Meanwhile, the Garrods weren’t the only ones needing to make a road trip north; there was the slight matter of a stranded campervan and car still sitting at Tuapeka Mouth near Balclutha. The Garrods were very keen to be reunited with their vehicles, so Arthur’s wife got in touch with the church’s caretakers who put out an SOS.   In no time, a school bus driver from Oamaru put up his hand.

“He had some spare time to do a roady up the country with our vehicles,” said Arthur, “and we paid his expenses.”

Plans for any future campervan holidays are on hold while Arthur undertakes physical therapy and gets back to full strength, but he is grateful for his saving air ambulance flight.

“We had nothing but a great experience with the air ambulance,” said Arthur.  “It’s a terrific service and very much appreciated.”

Donna's Story

At 38-weeks pregnant and suffering from chest pain, Donna Lander was flown to Auckland’s Greenlane Hospital by air ambulance from New Plymouth.

A dissecting aortic aneurism was rupturing as she was being wheeled into theatre and in a very touch-and-go five-hour operation, Donna’s failing aortic valve was replaced with a prosthetic one.  Donna’s unborn baby survived the operation and was delivered as planned by caesarean section.  The humble hero who saved the lives of both mother and child that day was heart surgeon Dr Alan Kerr. The year was 1987.

Fast forward 30 years to 2018 and Donna was again gravely ill with serious heart failure and admitted to Taranaki Base Hospital.  Even though her hospital notes mentioned a repair had been done previously, Taranaki doctors didn’t have access to Donna’s full medical history.

Donna’s health deteriorated rapidly and her sister, Hez, could only watch helplessly.  Hez remembered a New Zealand Listener article written months earlier highlighting the career of the heart surgeon who had saved Donna’s life 30 years prior.  Hez wanted to thank Dr Kerr for giving the family the time they had.  “Without him, Donna would have been dead 30 years ago,” she stated.

Hez emailed the Listener’s editor and asked that a short ‘thank you’ note be forwarded to Dr Kerr.  Dr Kerr remembered Donna and contacted Hez to enquire after her.  Within days he had liaised with New Plymouth cardiologists about the homograft repair he had undertaken 30 years earlier that in all probability was no longer functioning and cardiologists organised for a second life-saving transport by air ambulance, this time to Auckland Hospital.

“I was very grateful to be able to fly with her in the Hamilton-based Westpac Air Ambulance that had been dispatched to fly in to New Plymouth,” said Hez. “Donna had been very ill since January, it was now May and she was so close to death.  It was a very distressing time and the air ambulance crew were so good.  Amongst other issues, she had a lot of fluid on her lungs and was suffering delirium toxicity.  She didn’t want me to fly with her, so I sat behind her so that she couldn’t see me.”

At Auckland Hospital, Donna had a new and improved version of an artificial valve implanted and Donna’s family were left contemplating the amazing chain of events; a chance magazine article, the forwarding of a thank you note and a retired heart surgeon’s instinct, enabling doctors to bring about another life-saving outcome for his former patient.

“We are so very grateful to Dr Kerr, the Philips Search & Rescue Trust’s Westpac Air Ambulance and hospital medical teams,” said Hez.  “Donna is a total success story.”

Attached image credited to NZ Listener photographer Glenn Jeffrey.

Tony's Story

Tony was driving a self-loading bin truck in a forestry block, cleaning up the last load of the day.

As he was slewing around he pulled a lever slightly, which in turn pulled the boom up. Realising it wasn’t going to stop, Tony inexplicably turned about in his seat and the boom came down on his legs.

Tony lay there, crushed, for over six hours.

“I’ve been a hunter all my life. Animal’s chests can fill up with blood and get quite puffy, particularly where they have been hit. My stomach felt puffy and I spat out blood but I knew that if I could be found – I would live.”

Stumbled upon by a co-worker hours later, the emergency services were quickly called.

Both the Taupo-based Greenlea Rescue Helicopter and the Hamilton-based fixed-wing Westpac Air Ambulance were dispatched.

“The problem with this particular crush injury,” said Air Ambulance Pilot Warren Mackay, “was that Tony had been crushed for many hours before he was found. If the crane had been taken straight off him his heart would probably have given out, as releasing that kind of pressure after such a long period of time releases toxins into the bloodstream.”

“When we were tasked on this mission, we flew a medical team down with the realistic idea that we may be amputating a leg.”

On the ground, after assessing the situation and discussing the best way to proceed, paramedics decided to apply a tourniquet to stop any blood flow out of the leg. It worked enough to enable them to slightly remove the boom.

Instead of the helicopter meeting the Westpac Air Ambulance, picking up the on board medical team and flying them into the forest to amputate a leg, the helicopter instead airlifted the patient to the waiting plane that flew Tony to Waikato Hospital with the on board medical team keeping him alive.

A catscan later showed that there was still some blood flow, but when the tourniquet came off Tony’s kidneys immediately failed and didn’t start working again for three days.

“If you survive the initial release of toxins,” explained medics, “then your kidneys that clean out your blood are the next to fail.”

“My survival came down to a huge team effort by amazing people, right through to hospital treatment,” said Tony later. “I felt as though I was the orange boy on the sidelines watching all these incredible people.”

“The pilots and medical teams are truly the unsung heroes of society, doing extraordinary work.”

“I still have my leg and I have my life. I have everything to be grateful for.”