Former BBC Coast presenter and archaeologist Mark Horton says he is 'so grateful' to a crew from Great Western Air Ambulance Charity which helped save his 'digging hand' following a recent boating accident.
Mark, who lives in the Forest of Dean and keeps a boat at Lydney Harbour on the banks of the River Severn, was carrying out routine maintenance on his yacht earlier this year when it fell on its side – catapulting him three or four metres onto the slipway below.
He landed in a six-inch layer of river mud and cold water, catching his arm in the process and hitting the floor in 'writhing pain', with one hand at 'a strange right angle' to his arm.
Bystanders called 999 before rolling him onto 'an old bit of tarpaulin' and bringing him up the slipway and out of the mud, before fashioning a splint out of a piece of driftwood and gaffer tape.
Mark says the first thing he remembers when coming out of shock was seeing 'the bright green and blue air ambulance helicopter circling above', which he describes as giving him 'an amazing sense of relief'.
He said of GWAAC's critical care team, which arrived 10 minutes after the call: 'They got me off the tarp and onto the stretcher and put me in the ambulance. We were covered in mud.'
The crew assessed Mark and administered strong pain relief which some road ambulances do not carry – something he was very grateful for.
'It was the drugs that made the difference. I can’t imagine the amount of agony I would have been in if I had travelled to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital without them.'
Because the blood flow to his hand and nerves were compromised, GWAAC’s Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM) trainee, Dr Celestine, straightened Mark's arm before the journey to hospital.
Mark added: 'I didn’t realise that air ambulances
carried doctors on board. I watched Dr Celestine straighten my arm — she was
fantastic.'
Following surgery on his hand, Mark is now on the road to recovery through physiotherapy.
'What GWAAC did for me, was help me to carry on being an archaeologist, to do my livelihood. It’s my digging hand you see!
'The high level of care I received that day, at the scene of my accident before I got to hospital, means I have no long-term damage and can continue a normal life.
'Everyone had a part
to play: GWAAC, the road paramedics and the people at the yacht club, as well
as the care I received in hospital, they’ve given me back my quality of life.'
