When Jack Scott dropped his girlfriend Holly off at work as usual on 8th May 2013 neither of them had any idea how their lives were about to change.
After wishing Holly a good day, Jack was continuing his journey to work when he was involved in a catastrophic road traffic collision. The impact from the crash caused Jack such serious injuries that he needed the advanced medical treatment our crew can deliver. Our helicopter was dispatched and within minutes it landed in a nearby field.
When our crew arrived at Jack’s side, he was in and out of consciousness and unresponsive. To prevent any further injuries, our paramedic and doctor team decided to stabilise him. Using their hospital-level skills and innovative equipment, they performed a pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia to put him to sleep.
Although Jack was stabilised, his life was still on the line. The location of Jack’s incident was far from a major trauma hospital, so our crew flew him by helicopter to the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford.
Once in hospital Jack was given just a 2% chance of survival. Reflecting on that traumatic day, Holly said “When I arrived at A&E, Jack was in resuscitation. It was only then that I learnt how critically injured he was. The doctor explained that he had a severe brain injury and multiple fractures to his face, neck and back as well as a collapsed lung.”
Jack was put into an induced coma for 12 days, allowing his brain to heal. He also had a neck and back brace for two months to help his bones realign. Holly continued: “For the majority of Jack’s time in hospital we had no idea what the outcome would be. The initial stage of diagnosis was that if he survived, he would never be the same again.”
Incredibly, Jack defied the odds and just six weeks after his horrific incident, he walked out of hospital. Holly said: “He’s a walking miracle! If it wasn’t for Thames Valley Air Ambulance putting Jack to sleep and getting him to hospital so quickly he wouldn’t have survived. Although he suffered from short term memory loss and serious fatigue for many months, he has recovered amazingly.”
Since Jack’s incident and recovery journey, the couple have gone from strength to strength. Jack proposed to Holly and they got married in 2015. Two years later they welcomed their first baby, Harley.
Jack said “Thames Valley Air Ambulance didn’t just save my life, they also gave me the ability to live life to the full. It wasn’t until during my recovery that I learnt that they are a charity funded entirely by kind donations. I wanted to help others who are severely injured or seriously ill to get the same chance that I did. That’s why in May I will be running the MK Marathon to raise money to help the charity reach as many people in need, as they did for me”.
To sponsor Jack, please visit his JustGiving page.
