Teen biker injured in crash to appear in TV documentary

Series follows medics as emergencies unfold

A footballer who fell from a cliff and a teen badly injured in a motorbike crash appear in a new documentary series following Kent medics.

Channel 4’s Emergency, which is airing this week, follows major trauma teams from across East Kent Hospitals Trust (EKHUFT) and London hospitals as they care for patients over a two-week period during the summer.

Among those featured in the show is 18-year-old Leyton Bridgewater, from Ramsgate, who suffered horrific leg injuries when he crashed his motorbike into a traffic island on a summer’s evening.

Leyton was airlifted to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, before being transferred for specialist surgery at Kings College Hospital in London.

He said: “It’s definitely not something I expected, and it is very weird to see yourself on TV lying in a hospital bed.

“But I decided to go with it and let them film and I’m really happy with how it turned out.

“The medical teams were amazing, particularly the nurses who looked after me, and I’m really grateful to them all for everything they did.”

Leyton crashed in July 2021 after his vision was temporarily blocked by his helmet lifting up. As he went to pull it down, he lost control of his motorbike.

He said: “I remember bits and pieces. I tried standing up but my leg was folding the wrong way and I couldn’t. Then I think

I just zoned out until the paramedics arrived and gave me gas and air.

“I remember being in the ambulance and they tried to straighten my leg, then I remember arriving at the hospital in Ashford.”

Camera crews filmed the transfer from the air ambulance, and Leyton’s arrival in the emergency department of the William Harvey Hospital, where medics were waiting for him.

He had a CT scan and X-rays and doctors were concerned about the risk of infection because the bone had broken through the skin of his leg, leaving an open wound.

They consulted specialists at

Kings College Hospital, who agreed to take on the case, and Leyton travelled the 60 miles to London by road ambulance.

Leyton, who also suffered injuries to his arm, said: “I was quite out of it but I remember them telling me the bone had snapped. I work in construction so I was worried about work, especially when they said it wasn’t a simple break and it needed surgery.

“But I have been able to go back to work, although I still have some appointments with the physios and at Kings.

“It’s been hard work to get the strength back and it still doesn’t feel perfect but I’m lucky it wasn’t worse.

“I watched a preview of the programme with my parents, and it was definitely interesting to look back at everything that happened.”

The programme also follows the story of promising young footballer Frazer Jardine, who suffered spinal injuries falling off a cliff in Ramsgate.

Emergency follows trauma medics at EKHUFT along with London’s four major trauma centres and London’s Air Ambulance.

TV crews spent two weeks filming at the William Harvey last summer following patients with traumatic injuries.

Filming continued throughout the autumn as patients continued their recovery locally, including at the Kent & Canterbury and QEQM.

The four-part series, which is being broadcast on Channel 4 across four nights, started on Monday and concludes tomorrow (Thursday).

‘I tried standing up but my leg was folding the wrong way and I couldn’t...’

Leyton Bridgewater is among patients to appear in Channel 4 documentary, Emergency

Frazer Jardine, who fell from a cliff, also features