Gerry Crease

Gerry had been driving home after spending the morning running some errands.

“It was a hot day. My car didn’t have air conditioning, so I had the driver’s side window open,” Gerry explains. “The next thing I knew, the car rolled to the right, and my right hand went out of the open window towards the tarmac below.”

Gerry says that, in the aftermath of the incident, he can vividly remember looking at his hand and thinking ‘that doesn’t look too good.’ “I could see blood on the windscreen,” he adds.

The first person to arrive at the scene had good knowledge of first aid and used a belt as a tourniquet to help control Gerry’s blood loss. The police, fire service and ambulance service soon arrived, and EAAA’s Anglia Two (Cambridge) crew were tasked by air. Gerry heard the helicopter as it flew overhead, looking for a place to land.

The EAAA crew of Dr Ben and Critical Care Paramedic Andy brought advanced skills, medication and equipment directly to Gerry’s side. On their arrival, Gerry was still trapped in his vehicle, but the crew could see that his right hand had been partially amputated.  Time was of the essence to free Gerry and get him to hospital for surgery. EAAA crews carry advanced pain relief, which is over and above what is carried by the ambulance service. They administered this to Gerry to help control his pain while the emergency services worked together to free him from the vehicle.

“The fire service turned my car into a convertible in order to get me out!” Gerry says.

Gerry was freed from the vehicle. Dr Ben and CCP Andy prepared to take him by air to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, the region’s major trauma centre, for specialist surgery.

Once Gerry had been stabilised and transferred in the helicopter, flown by pilots Rick and Martin, Dr Ben and CCP Andy continued to monitor him and administer further pain relief if Gerry’s pain became too much. At hospital, Gerry received a scan and was taken to theatre. Unfortunately, his hand couldn’t be saved. He returned home after just a week in hospital and adapted well to life with a prosthetic arm. His outlook and attitude remain stoical and positive.

“It’s a minor inconvenience,” he says. “But you have to get up and get on with life. I can wash, cook, iron, do my housework. I have a little bit of help with my gardening, and this means I can keep my neighbours supplied with veg!”

“After my incident, I visited EAAA’s Cambridge base to meet the crew who attended me. This was superb. Nobody wakes up in the morning thinking they will go in a yellow helicopter, but I probably wouldn’t be here today without East Anglian Air Ambulance. I praise everything they do.”

EAAA is a charity that relies almost entirely on the kind support of the public to treat people across our region who experience life-threatening medical and trauma emergencies. Thank you for your incredible support, which means the crew can provide critical care to people in our region, like Gerry, when they need it most.

The EAAA crew and Gerry were featured in series five of Channel 4’s Emergency Helicopter Medics, which aired in 2024. The series is available to watch again online on More4 and online.