Worker suffers life-threatening arm injury in angle grinder incident. Colleagues and air ambulance crew hailed as heroes.
His coworkers called 999 right away. The call handlers told them how to use towels like makeshift tourniquets. Paramedic Stew saw it was “catastrophic bleeding” and sent the Yorkshire Air Ambulance team.
The helicopter quickly flew from Wakefield. The team arrived in just three minutes and found Adrian awake but in bad shape. They quickly determined he had nerve damage, realizing Adrian risked losing his arm.
The air ambulance team included Dr. Paul Onion and Sammy Wills. They moved Adrian to the ambulance for privacy and used a real tourniquet instead of towels. Sammy knew industrial accidents are serious.
Adrian’s bleeding was very concerning to Sammy. He became clammy, a sign of heart trouble. They laid him flat and raised his legs, which helped blood flow back to his heart. Sammy packed the wound with a special dressing that helps blood clot and stops bleeding fast.
Adrian arrived at Leeds General Infirmary, where trauma surgeons waited for him. They operated for four hours to save his arm. He is back at work now, slowly recovering fully, which will take him possibly two years to heal completely.
Adrian was scared by how much blood he lost, but his coworkers stopped it before help arrived. He is grateful for their actions and their immediate help. The air ambulance team arrived so fast and he thinks they saved his life that day.
Adrian had past arm troubles, it is important to note; he had his arm reattached as a child. He hurt his other hand just before this accident and surgeons repaired eighty percent nerve damage. Time will tell if feeling fully returns in his arm. Parts feel normal, others remain numb, Adrian noted, and he is grateful the surgeons could help him heal well.