Crisis and a sequel for air rescue pair
A COUPLE were rescued by Scotland’s air ambulance after two separate accidents – just three weeks apart.
Paul Wilson, 38, was flown to safety when his all-terrain vehicle somersaulted down a steep slope near Loch Garry, Lochaber.
Then his wife Alison, 37, was trampled by her horse on the shores of the same loch – and was rescued by the same helicopter.
The couple, from Cawdor, Invernessshire, are now supporting a £6million fundraising campaign to secure a second helicopter for Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) and have backed a drive to have it based in Aberdeen.
Mr Wilson said: ‘We would both have been snookered without it. We know how important it is. This is the sort of rural area where extra help would be most appreciated.’
Gamekeeper Mr Wilson required urgent medical attention for leg injuries following his accident last July. He said he ‘thought he was going to die’ as the all-terrain vehicle he was in with a friend plunged down a slope before smashing into a rock. ‘I managed to crawl clear and then levered the vehicle off my mate with a wooden post,’ he said.
Due to the remote and ‘inaccessible’ location, SCAA’s Sconebased helicopter was scrambled to airlift him to hospital.
He was ‘drifting in and out of consciousness’ but recalls feeling ‘huge relief’ when the crew arrived, including paramedic Wendy Jubb. He added: ‘I was in a great deal of pain and they were just amazing. I immediately relaxed, knowing I was in expert hands.’
After being kept in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, overnight, he was off work for two weeks.
Three weeks after his accident, his wife was walking her horse on the banks of Loch Garry when the mare sank into soft sand and took fright. ‘She panicked because she was up to her belly in this gloopy, silty sand,’ said Mrs Wilson. ‘Then she seemed to get some purchase and scrambled towards me.’
Knowing what was coming, Mrs Wilson rolled into a ball as the horse’s hooves hit her back. The mother-of-two, who suffered bruised lungs and several broken ribs, added: ‘The pain was horrendous. The whole weight of the horse was crashing into me and I thought I was going to break.’
Shortly afterwards, she passed out and her worried family called paramedics – who decided the air ambulance was required.
She said: ‘I remember saying “Please don’t send the helicopter” as I couldn’t believe we were tying up the service yet again.
‘But I’m so glad they were there. I remember feeling real relief when I heard them coming and then landing.’
David Craig, SCAA chief executive, said it was a ‘rare coincidence’ for the air ambulance to be called to help a husband and wife within weeks of each other.
‘We hope that they both make a full recovery from their ordeals,’ he said.