Great North Air Ambulance Service

A TEENAGER has been reunited with the one of the medics who helped him after he suffered a nasty groin injury from falling off his bike.

Jacob Honeyborne-Sharp, 13, was riding his mountain bike outside his home in Coniston when he fell and suffered an open wound to his groin area on 8 April.

Recalling the incident, his father Simon Honeyborne-Sharp, said: “I was about 10 minutes from the house when I got called, with Jacob needing to be taken to hospital.

“When I arrived he didn't know what to do with himself as he was stood up. How I don't know but in his dismay he was waiting to be taken to hospital. I looked at the issue, which was apparent he needed to be laid down and we were not driving him anywhere without advice.

“I rang 999 explained his symptoms and injury and issue in hand, which needed further consultation by the call handler due to the age of him and nature of injury.”

Mr Honeyborne-Sharp is no stranger to dealing with emergency incidents, after previously being part of Coniston Mountain Rescue Team for eight years, so he was able to use his training to help look after his son.

Following the initial 999 call, the doctor on shift at the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) rang Mr Honeyborne-Sharp to assess the severity of the injury and it was established that Jacob required the help of their critical care team.

He said: “An ambulance prior to the doctor’s call was at least 38 minutes away due to our rural location and it being a busy Easter weekend.

“Within approximately 12 further minutes an ambulance arrived at the same time as GNAAS’ aircraft and the two teams quickly assessed Jacob and explained that he needed to be taken to Liverpool or the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle so he could get the best care.”

Due to the rural location, Jacob was loaded into GNAAS’ aircraft, accompanied by his mother, and airlifted to the RVI for further treatment.

He’s recovering well and has since visited GNAAS’ base in Langwathby with his family and met paramedic Sarah Graham who was part of the critical care team who came to his aid.

The family were given a tour around the helicopter and presented a gift to Ms Graham as a token of their appreciation, along with a donation to GNAAS, which is charity funded and relies on public donations to remain operational.

Mr Honeyborne-Sharp said: “You never think you will find yourself or your family in need, but of course accidents happen, and things change quickly.

“Thank you so much to the team who dealt with the situation swiftly and effectively as usual. The quick response in rural communities and actually dealing with serious situations is invaluable.”

GNAAS does not receive government funding and therefore needs to raise £7.7m a year to remain operational. During summer, their critical care team experience an increase in call-outs of over 50 per cent. To support the charity visit: gna.as/donatesummer

About GNAAS

• The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a charitably funded air ambulance service which provides life-saving care throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Isle of Man.
  
• They operate two helicopters 365 days a year and also operate a night-time service in the North East and Cumbria on rapid response vehicles.
  
  
• The aircraft cover an area of more than 8,000 square miles and on board are specialist doctors and paramedics who effectively bring the hospital to the patient.
  
  
• The level of skill and expertise of the on-board team mean they respond to the most critically ill and injured people, giving them the best chance of survival.
  
  
• GNAAS is a progressive organisation which has pioneered pre-hospital care in the region.
  
• The latest techniques, equipment and drugs are constantly being evaluated to ensure the charity can provide the best care possible for their patients.
  
  
• 2022 marked the service providing 20 years of life-saving care. Throughout this time, they have responded to more than 23,500 incidents across the region, with road traffic collisions being the most frequent type of incident responded to by the team.
  
  
• They do not receive Government funding and must therefore raise £7.7m a year through public donations to remain operational.

For more information visit: https://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/ or follow @gnairambulance on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok