Emily’s story

“Emily is outgoing, has lots of energy, is animal crazy and has loads of friends,” Becky explains. “She is determined, funny and fun to be around. She works hard at school and enjoys subjects where she can debate, like religious studies and English. When she’s older she would like to be a lawyer.”

On that day in May 2022, Becky and her husband, Steve (Emily’s Stepdad), took Emily to Thetford Forest, alongside Becky’s Mum, some friends and their horses. While Becky and Steve stayed with the horsebox, the others went for a ride. A short time later, one of the group returned quickly and said, “Emily’s had a fall. She’s ok – but I think you should come.”

Something had spooked Emily’s horse. It reared up twice but, on the third time, Emily was thrown off. She was wearing a riding helmet, but she had hit her head.

When Becky arrived, Emily was back on the horse, talking but crying.

“We got her off the horse and back to where our horse box was. Emily then went very quiet. I thought she might be in shock. I tried to encourage her to have a drink and something to eat. I offered her a bag of crisps – which she never says no to – but she didn’t want them.”

“Then awful things began to happen.”

Becky describes that Emily started doing a swirling motion with her hands, and she knew that something wasn’t right. Emily then vomited and, instinctively, Becky suspected that Emily was about to have a seizure, despite never experiencing one before.

“I told Steve to get help while we put Emily into the recovery position, she had already started fitting at that point. Our friends, Sara and Rachel called for an ambulance. Thank goodness for the What3Words app as we were in the middle of the forest and potentially difficult to find.”

A lady, who was a nurse, came to help while Emily was still having a seizure. Becky says it was then she really started to panic about what might happen.

“I was sick too, because I honestly thought Emily was going to die. That moment was terrifying and horrendous. Everyone around us was crying.”

Becky continues, “It wasn’t long before I heard the East Anglian Air Ambulance helicopter, perhaps only minutes but those minutes felt like hours. I looked up and saw it looking for a place to land. Once safely on the ground, the crew, Dr Claire and Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) Andy, cut through a fence to get to us as quickly as possible. They were so calm.”

Emily was given sedation and advanced pain relief by the EAAA crew. This is medication over and above what is carried by land ambulance crews. However, there was concern about Emily’s airway so Dr Claire and CCP Andy then put Emily into an induced coma due to a possible head injury. This would give her neuroprotection and minimise the effects of any potential brain damage.

The crew then transferred Emily into the helicopter and Becky asked if she could travel with her daughter to hospital.

“Pilot Eduardo said I could travel with Emily in the helicopter during the transfer to Addenbrooke’s Hospital. When I climbed in, I could see that Emily’s heart was being monitored and there were tubes everywhere. All these things looked terrifying initially but became less so when the crew explained everything to me.”

Dr Claire talked Becky through what to expect on arrival at hospital. They would be taken straight to Paediatric Intensive Care and there would be lots of people, but every one of them would have a job.

“I was glad she prepared me, as it was very overwhelming when we arrived. CCP Andy stayed with me for a little while until Emily underwent tests and was taken for a brain scan. I was then taken to a family room,” Becky says.

A while later, three members of the hospital team entered the family room and Becky says she feared the worst. She couldn’t believe it when she was told there were no bleeds on Emily’s brain.

Becky explains, “There was possibly a small bruise, but they said everything was going to be ok. Incredibly, just 24-hours later, Emily was sitting up in bed asking for a Costa coffee! She was in Intensive Care for 24 hours and a High Dependency Unit for 4-5 days. It was amazing to get her home, because I honestly thought at one point that she may never come home again”.

It was a challenging recovery; Emily slept a lot and suffered with memory loss, which Becky says was hard for her. She has also lost some confidence when riding but she received a lot of support and care, including from her school, which the family are immensely grateful for.

“The Aftercare support from EAAA has also been brilliant,” Becky adds. “When something like this happens, you just go into autopilot and may not deal with emotions until several days afterwards. When EAAA reached out to us, we had the opportunity to connect with others who had been in similar situations. The Aftercare team also arranged for us to visit the Cambridge base to meet the crew. This really helped Emily to start to put the pieces together. All these elements have helped with her recovery.”

Becky and her family are so thankful for the help and care from EAAA. Becky’s company has now chosen to support the charity, something she says she is so pleased about.

“It was a horrendous 24-hours for our family, and I truly believe that without a riding helmet and without the Anglia Two (Cambridge) crew from East Anglian Air Ambulance it could have been a different story. Three years later and I still wonder whether Emily would have even made it to the hospital if she hadn’t received the advanced treatment from EAAA at the scene and a quick transfer to hospital.”

“We owe everything to EAAA and the donors who make their work possible.”