Angela Brearley

A newlywed couple from Doncaster are lucky to be alive following a horrific motorbike accident just days before their first wedding anniversary.

Ian Werret, 52, and his wife Clare, 44 were on a bike ride in the Selby area, when Ian was overtaking a car turning off a motorway, resulting in the collision.

Ian and Clare were flung from the back of the motorbike and ended up lying 10 yards away from each other on a grass verge.

Clare said: “I remember being on the bike, then being in the air and then I woke up on the grass – I must have passed out. “

With the Yorkshire Air Ambulance in attendance, it was down to the paramedics on board to assess the severity of both parties injuries.  Subsequently, Ian was flown to the Major Trauma Centre at Leeds General Infirmary as he was deemed the most seriously injured of the two, and Clare was taken by land ambulance to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.

Clare continued: “I remember the air ambulance crew checking over my knee and I didn’t know how Ian was. Then I overheard that his stats were dropping and he needed to be airlifted.”

Assessments at Leeds General Infirmary revealed that Ian had cracked two vertebrae, nine broken ribs,  fractured his shoulder and had two collapsed lungs. Clare suffered from leg injuries, a broken rib  and also a collapsed lung. They both went on to make a good recovery considering their injuries.

Despite their horrific accident, biker of 37 years Ian, has not been put off riding. As soon as they returned home from hospital, his first priority was to assess the damage of his prized bike.

The couple returned home just in time to celebrate their first wedding anniversary together, recovering on the sofa – it wasn’t quite the celebrations they both had in mind.

Speaking of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Clare said: “If it wasn’t for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, I don’t think my husband would here today.”

Ian and Clare’s story will feature in episode 10 of Helicopter ER. Helicopter ER, which airs at 9pm on UKTV’s real life channel Really, also features a woman who accidentally stabbed herself with a knife, a man who fell two storeys at a local post office and a child who had a serious fall in a North Yorkshire woods.

Helicopter ER is made by York-based Air Television who have won two Royal Television Society awards for their work on the compelling series.

Claire Walton, aged 28, was riding her horse at a farm near Ingleby on 27^th March 2016, when she got her foot stuck in a gate post and as the horse bucked, she was thrown to the ground, leaving her with her spine broken in seven places.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance was called to the farm and Claire was rushed to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, where she underwent emergency spinal surgery.

Surgeons had Claire walking the very next day. However, they stressed that if it wasn’t for the initial treatment and speedy transfer by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, she may not have been so lucky.

A year after her accident, Claire got back in the saddle and decided to fundraise for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.  It was there when she met the man who helped save her and also inspired her career change.

Paramedic Andy Armitage has had a varied career from starting out as a postman to becoming a fitness instructor. He now works for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance as one of their fully trained aircrew paramedics.

Andy impressed Claire with his reassuring and calm nature on the day he attended her, accident and when  Claire mentioned that she had always wanted to work as a paramedic, but she thought she was too old to retrain, Andy inspired her by saying: ‘it is never too late.’

Claire has now been accepted on to a BSC Hons degree studying Paramedic Practice at Teeside University and will be starting this month. Her goal is to one day work for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Claire, said: “The Yorkshire Air Ambulance service is invaluable and I hope that one day like them, I can make a difference to someone’s life.”

A man who was airlifted to hospital following a serious heart attack, is now walking at least 30 minutes per day in order to help keep his heart healthy.

Ken Allanby, 75, from Baldersby, North Yorkshire, always led an active lifestyle riding motorcycles, cycles and walking with his family. He had always been generally fit and healthy, until one day he suddenly suffered a serious heart attack.

Catherine, Ken’s wife, had just returned home from walking their dog when her husband started complaining of chest pains.  She left the room to book him a doctor’s appointment, but when she returned, his condition had rapidly deteriorated.

Catherine, a retired nurse, said: “He suddenly went grey and started gasping for air. As soon as he started crying I knew something was wrong and he told to me call an ambulance.”

Paramedics who were first on scene assessed Ken and told him that he would need to go to hospital for some bloods tests. However, moments later Ken went into cardiac arrest.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance were immediately scrambled given Ken’s serious condition, and when they arrived at Ken’s home, he was in a critical condition. Paramedics had already managed to restart his heart, but time was of the essence and he needed immediate transfer to hospital.

YAA medics helped to stabilise Ken then they flew him to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.  During the 15 minute journey, which would have taken 45 minutes on the road, the team were on standby in case of any further deterioration in Ken’s condition. Only 5% of cardiac arrests are successfully resuscitated, and Ken had already defied the odds earlier that day.

Luckily, Ken arrived at the hospital and was quickly handed over to cardiac surgeons, who managed to successfully remove a blockage from his heart, and he was well on the road to recovery within four days.

Since his distressing ordeal, Ken has been able to go back to the things he enjoyed doing such as riding his motorbike, but he also vowed to make sure he does 30 minutes of exercise daily to keep his heart healthy.

Catherine added: “The Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the local paramedics were absolutely fabulous. From the speed that they arrived, to how they handled the situation, you really couldn’t fault them.”

Cyclist Dave Jefferson has got back on this bike saddle a year after a serious cycling accident, and raised more than £1,300 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Just over a year ago, Dave, 54 from Market Weighton, suffered a bleed on the brain, a broken collar bone and ribs and burns to his shoulders and knees after a cycling accident near North Dalton.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance airlifted Dave to Hull Royal Infirmary where he underwent intensive treatment and told that if it wasn’t for the air ambulance service and the fact that he was wearing a helmet, he possibly wouldn’t be here today.

As an avid cyclist, Dave regularly used the Strava app to monitor his progress and record his miles. The app was left switched on when he was taken by air from the scene of the accident to HRI, recording him travelling 154 miles.

The distance Dave allegedly travelled created a buzz within the Strava community and many people began asking him how he did it, unaware that he wasn’t actually cycling at the time, but in the back of an air ambulance helicopter.

To show support for the service that helped save his life and to give himself a challenge, Dave decided to replicate his journey via helicopter on land and cycle 154 miles to raise funds for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Dave rallied around a team of 16 cyclists aged from 22 to 54 years old and travelled from Market Weighton to Malton and Flamborough Lighthouse, then back through Bridlington, to Driffield, Walkington, North Cave, arriving back at Market Weighton. The journey took ten and a half hours of cycling, starting at 5am and finishing at 6.30pm.

“I just wanted to think of some way to thank the crew and charity for what they did for me on the day I had my accident, and a bike ride sounded like the best idea”, said Dave.

“The charity is absolutely fantastic and you never know when you might need them. They are amazing people and what they do every single day is outstanding.”