Rescued patients tell how Yorkshire Air Ambulance came to rescue after South Yorkshire road horrors

Yorkshire Air Ambulance bosses have revealed they were called out over 1,700 times last year – as South Yorkshire residents who they carried praised their efforts.
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance has created this photocollage of people it has helpedThe Yorkshire Air Ambulance has created this photocollage of people it has helped
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance has created this photocollage of people it has helped

The service – which was responsible for carrying an eight-year old-Sheffield boy to the city’s children’s hospital on Wednesday after he was hurt in a collision with a van – was sent to 1,712 incidents in 2021.

Read More
Air ambulance called to Tinsley Green, Sheffield – with residents reporting chil...

Today, some of those who have been helped in recent years shared their stories.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Kayanna Nicol from Doncaster, was seven when she accidentally walked into the pathway of an ongoing vehicle in Intake, Doncaster, on April 10 2019.

The back wheel of the car caught her leg and split it from side to side causing a massive trauma. She had to go to Sheffield Children’s Hospital – but there had been an incident on the M1 that day, leaving her dad worried about how she would get there.

Kayanna was flown to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where she was rushed into a five-hour surgery to save her leg.

Kayanna’s father Keith, said: “She received excellent attention and treatment that Kayanna received was second to none. I couldn’t fault anyone; they are all brilliant people.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Nigel Atkinson was riding his motorbike on the M18 motorway near Thorne, in Doncaster.

As he was passing an articulated lorry, the prop shaft from that wagon flew off into the front wheel of his bike resulting in Nigel coming off his bike at 70 mph causing him serious damage.

A passer-by named Matthew who was driving his van, positioned his vehicle to protect Nigel as he was airborne, so no further damage came to him on the busy motorway and then started immediate CPR until the emergency services arrived.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance dispatched their helicopter and Nigel was flown to hospital for further treatment.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I’m eternally grateful to the YAA and Matthew’s heroic efforts”, said Nigel.

The charity which runs the air ambulance has published a photo collage of a handful of patients that Yorkshire Air Ambulance has treated and flown to hospital over the last 22 years.

It serves five million people across Yorkshire and carries out over 1,300 missions every year. The charity operates two, state-of-the-art Airbus H145 helicopters and needs to raise £12,000 every day to keep saving lives.

A new campaign from the YAA aims to raise awareness that a serious incident could happen to anyone, at any time anywhere, and express the importance of the life-saving charity across the region.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Abby Barmby, director of marketing and communications added: “These are just a few of the remarkable people we have been able to help and save over our 22 years of operations. All of them highlight the vital work we do, and how our crews really do help to save lives. We are so grateful to each of them for allowing us to share their stories and help us educate people about the work our charity does. As an independent charity which receives no direct government funding we rely solely on charitable donations so having previous patients share their stories really does helps us spread the word.”