'On behalf of my family, thank you for saving me'

Have you ever thought how you would leap into action if you were off-duty?

For Student Paramedic Kaitee Robinson the question became a reality last year when she found herself treating a motorcyclist seriously injured in a road traffic collision.

John Michaels, from Great Dunmow, was riding his motorbike on 25^th August when he was struck by a car in Hatfield Heath, suffering a broken tibia, fibula, and femur in the process.

Fortunately for John, and by sheer coincidence, Kaitee was in a car behind him.

She said: “I noticed lots of traffic and thought someone had broken down, however when I got closer I could see John on the floor and his motorbike halfway down the road. Immediately I thought to myself - this isn’t good.”

Without a second’s hesitation Kaitee sprang into action, and utilised her training to help John until support arrived in the form of Emergency Medical Technician Neil Humber, Senior Paramedic Anne Worley, Student Paramedic Mary-Anne Murray, and a crew from the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Trust. They worked hard together to immobilise John, using critical care to stabilise as best they could.

John was airlifted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital where specialists worked round the clock to save his leg, and several weeks later, he was able to travel home.

And last week Kaitee, Neil, and Anne were invited to BBC Essex studios in Chelmsford to discuss the incident, when they were treated to surprise guests themselves in the form of John and his wife, Carmen.

John said: “On behalf of my family, thank you for saving me, because of you I am here today. The series of events following the crash saved my life. From the initial efforts of Kaitee, to the rapid response of everyone else - if it wasn’t for them I would’ve died.”

Carmen added: “I want to hug and kiss all of you, thank you from the bottom of my heart, we are so very grateful for what you did.”

Kaitee said: “It was so good to see John looking so well; it means so much to us to be recognised for what we did.”

Neil added: “Everyone worked really well together to save John, and it is really nice to see him and be appreciated for our efforts.”

You can listen to the emotional reunion here (clip at 2:07:00).

Published April 8th, 2017