Olivia’s Mum, also called Rachel, describes how she does well at school, and spends much of her spare time riding. She belongs to a riding club, completes on junior teams, in individual disciplines, dressage, and showjumping. “Olivia is determined and independent. Horses are her world, and she is happiest when she is riding,” Rachel says.
The family live next door to the yard and arena where Olivia keeps and rides her horse, Skye. On that afternoon, Olivia was with a family friend and yard owner to practice showjumping – something she often does – when she came off her horse.
Rachel was out with her son, William, when she received a phone call from her husband, Olivia’s father, Richard to say that Olivia was injured, and an ambulance was on its way. “I didn’t panic at first because Olivia is around horses all the time and had suffered minor injuries before. I didn’t fully appreciate how serious her injuries were on this occasion, but we jumped in the car and headed straight home.”
Rachel says that Olivia was “really unlucky” and had fallen awkwardly. She landed on her knee, had immediate pain to her left hip and was unable to move. “It was horrible to see her in so much pain,” Rachel adds. A land ambulance from the East of England Ambulance service (EEAST) arrived and administered morphine, however this didn’t manage Olivia’s pain, so the EEAST crew requested assistance from East Anglian Air Ambulance.
The charity’s specialist doctors, critical care paramedics and pilots bring the advanced skills, equipment and medicine – normally only found in a specialist emergency department – directly to the patient’s side in the fastest time possible. The Anglia Two (Cambridge) crew were tasked by helicopter at 18:08, arriving on scene at 18:32.
“I saw the helicopter arrive and circle overheard while it looked for a safe place to land away from the horses and stable blocks,” Rachel adds.
Dr Rachel, Dr Neil and CCP Jonathan gave Olivia a full assessment at the scene. They observed that her left leg was shorter than the right and was rotated, so they suspected she had suffered a hip dislocation.
Olivia was still in so much pain that she was unable to move or be moved, so the Anglia Two crew administered advanced pain relief, which is carried by the charity’s crew on the helicopters and critical care cars, in the form of an inhaler. This is fast acting and easy for children and young people to use and tolerate. “This medication was magic!” Olivia’s Mum, Rachel, says, “Almost immediately it dealt with her pain and allowed the crews to move her. The crews decided that the best way to get Olivia to hospital was via land ambulance with the EEAST crew accompanying her.”
Olivia was then taken into the land ambulance and ready for the journey to Addenbrooke’s Hospital by road. “Once Olivia was on the land ambulance, the crew were brilliant with William, our youngest child who was 11 years old at the time,” Rachel continues. “It was scary for him to see his sister in distress. They took him over to the helicopter so he could have a look and meet the pilots. They took the time with him and that was lovely.”
On arrival at hospital, Olivia was taken to Trauma Care and was assessed straight away. Rachel continues, “Due to Olivia’s injuries, a whole team was waiting for us. There were lots of people ready to assess and treat her. She had a scan and was taken for an operation very quickly – the speed at which it all happened was amazing. She was out of surgery by 11pm.”
A scan after four weeks showed there was no further damage. Olivia was thrilled to be able to get back into the saddle after just five weeks. “It’s remarkable how young people heal,” Rachel adds. “Olivia had low-level soreness for a few days, but she received good physio following the incident. While her confidence has taken a little bit of a knock, she is back to being her normal chatty self.”
East Anglian Air Ambulance’s service to local communities goes far beyond the critical care it brings to the incident scene. The charity’s Aftercare Team provides invaluable support to local people and their loved ones in the aftermath of a medical emergency. As part of this service, the Aftercare team arrange for Olivia to meet with Dr Rachel at our Cambridge base.
“Seeing Dr Rachel again was brilliant,” Rachel says. “She and Olivia hugged, and the base visit was helpful for Olivia to talk about her accident to give things more context. It did her good.”
“We are extremely grateful for everything East Anglian Air Ambulance did on the day of Olivia’s incident. She was in such pain until that point. They were able to bring her pain down so she could be moved and transported to hospital. Without the access to the enhanced medication, it would have been much more traumatic than it already was. It would have been so very different without them.”