Air ambulance proves to be vital
Life Flight is there for people when time is critical and life is on the line. Each day, four people will need the help of its Westpac rescue helicopter or air ambulance. Mary Fisher was one of the 1500 people Life Flight helped in the last year. Piers Fu
When a Masterton mother first started showing signs of a brain aneurysm every second counted. Luckily for Mary Fisher, the blood balloon in her head didn’t burst, or she would have been dead before she hit the floor.
She was working as a secretary at a Masterton high school and her behaviour during the afternoon became erratic.
It took her two hours to drive home: a trip that should have taken 15 minutes.
The symptoms had become much more dramatic by the time she finally arrived home to her worried daughter, Sophie.
She felt like her brain was going to explode. She would find out later that what she was experiencing was known as a ‘‘thunderclap’’ headache.
Sophie rushed her mother to Wairarapa Hospital in Masterton. Once there, Fisher’s family had to insist on a scan when her symptoms were initially dismissed as a migraine.
A CT scan revealed what was happening in her brain, and it wasn’t good.
The Life Flight Air Ambulance was called immediately. She was flown from Masterton Airport to Wellington Hospital and whisked straight to neurosurgery.
She would not have survived if she had not been rushed to Wellington. ‘‘I would not still be here. Three operations later, I am on the way to full health.’’
It’s been a hard road. ‘‘You go from being a healthy woman in
She would not have survived if she had not been rushed to Wellington.
your mid-50s and then you have to start again.’’
She had to learn to read and write again. She’d had to leave work, but later was able to return to her old job.
Her medical condition has taken a heavy financial toll. It was an aneurysm and not an ‘‘accident’’, so there was no ACC.
‘‘Work pays out your sickness benefit, then you’re on your own.’’
Because of mounting bills and her inability to work for a long period Fisher had to sell her home and now rents a small town house on the main road.
Still plagued by a constant headache, she said it was not as bad as it used to be and she remained a remarkably bubbly and positive person. ‘‘My life hasn’t been easy, but you just carry on. Being alive is amazing. It’s painful, but amazing.’’
Now 58, Fisher enjoys gardening, walks, cross-stitch and cooking. All activities that she can continue thanks to Life Flight, modern medicine and great family support.
Four people need the help of Life Flight every day. Life Flight is a registered charity that relies on donations to keep running. Without it, the life-saving service would struggle to exist. You can help muck in at lifeflight.org.nz/support-us