Date of incident - 15/10/05
Time - 2.30pm
Location - Farthingloe, just outside Dover, Kent

Sean Hemsley was involved in one of the more remarkable incidents when he was involved in a life threatening road traffic accident and thanks to the Kent Air Ambulance; he is able to tell us his story.

 

Sean, 39 at the time, was on his motorbike travelling into Dover when a car overtook a bus on the other side of the road and hit Sean’s bike head on. Incredibly, a mile earlier Sean had overtaken a doctor in a car and this doctor was first on the scene. He immediately called for an ambulance.

 

The Air Ambulance crew arrived within 13 minutes of receiving the call and immediately worked with the paramedics in stabilising Sean. Miraculously, Sean was flown and arrived at William Harvey hospital at 3.30pm, one hour later. Sean was later told by surgeons that they gave him a one in ten chance of surviving and that the time saved in getting him to hospital saved his life.

 

Sean was conscious this whole time and only lost consciousness when he saw the hospital, whilst in the helicopter. He was rushed into theatre at 3.45pm and only came out at 12.30am with the surgeons working on both arms, his pelvis and left leg.

 

Sean’s memory starts again 6 days later as he was placed in a drug induced coma to allow his body time to recover. He remembers waking up in hospital and everything hurting, he was unable to function and felt completely helpless. 15 days later, Sean was transferred to St Georges in London, where they worked on rebuilding his right leg and pelvis amongst other things. He was in theatre all of Wednesday and Thursday and almost died during the operation. He remained in London for 5 weeks before returning to Ashford.

 

It was 3 months later, whilst still at the William Harvey, that Sean was told he could walk again. He was finally discharged on 10 February 2006. He has been in and out of hospital since, having regular check ups. Indeed, his father believes that Sean has had over 70 hours of theatre in 2 years.

 

This truly is an incredible story and without the Air Ambulance, Sean probably wouldn’t be with us today. As Sean himself says ‘I think the whole service is marvellous. I will be eternally grateful to the Air Ambulance, they are just a fantastic crew. All I can say is thank you so much and keep up the valuable work you do’.

 

Having met Sean, we were so impressed at the positive frame of mind he has adopted and we hope that he continues his recovery.

 

Share this story with your favourite social / bookmarking site.