Motorbike crash miracle
Bedsheet, broomsticks save victim’s life
WELL-known motorcyclist and tattoo artist Natasha Adams this week recounted how a fast-acting paramedic and a resourceful orthopedic surgeon saved her life with just a bed sheet and a broomstick.
Adams, 36, who is the owner of a tattoo parlour, Black Widow Bodyshop, and the president of the Inksligers Motorcycling Club, was rushed to Livingstone Hospital a few weeks ago after a devastating accident nearly cost her her life.
“About five weeks ago I was on my way to a meeting on my motorcycle. At a two-way stop near the Virgin Active in Lorraine, a woman cut right in front of me. She clearly saw me,” Adams said.
“I think she was taking a chance. My bike hit the hardest part of her car and I actually felt my pelvis breaking on impact. It is a pain that paralyses your entire body. I immediately curled into the fetal position. The bike landed on top of me.”
In an incredibly fortunate coincidence, Adams’s accident took place outside the home of a para- medic, who rushed out to help her.
“The next moment another paramedic – his name was Ronaldo – arrived where I was lying. He took a sheet and tightly strapped my pelvis to the gurney with it.
“Later doctors told me that most people with injuries similar to mine did not even make it to the hospital. That man saved my life. If it wasn’t for him, I would have been dead,” she said.
She said while she was being rushed to hospital with a broken ankle and arm and a crushed pelvis, the driver of the vehicle told her mother, who had rushed to the scene with Adams’ young son, that it was “just a small accident”.
“My child was terribly traumatised by what happened,” she said. “He is 11 and I am all he has.
“[At Livingstone Hospital] they sent me for X-rays four times. I was still strapped to the gurney. My foot and arm were repaired and then the orthopedic surgeon, Dr Dirk Odendaal, said he needed to take a look at my pelvis.
“At that stage they could not find a pelvic strap so the doctor used a broomstick. It was all he could find. But it worked!” she said.
Eventually doctors found a proper pelvic strap for her.
Traumanet EMS medic Ronaldo Oortman, who treated Adams on the scene and masterminded the bed sheet bandaging, said he was incredibly honoured that Adams had remembered him.
“I remember her accident very well,” he said adding that pelvic strap sheets were used in cases like this but he did not have one.
“So it was just a little out-of-thebox thinking,” he said.
“We deal with accidents every day and it is always very special if a patient survives a potentially fatal accident,” he said.
Adams said she was impressed with the nursing care she received despite obvious staff shortages.
“I was kept in hospital for a week. Then I had surgery to put pins in my arm and pelvis. I would like to thank all the doctors who looked after me.”
Adams said she had been told she would not be able to work for about eight months because of damage to her arm.
“I want to thank everybody from the biking community for their love and support. They are not only friends. They are my family.
“They raised funds for me for nappies and cream and my other medical expenses.
“They helped to modify my house for wheelchair access. I am just so incredibly grateful.”