Scottish Birdwatcher Airlifted After Cliff Fall in Yorkshire

A woman from Scotland fell off a cliff in Yorkshire. Gillian, age 66, was bird watching during her vacation. She was with her husband and friends as they walked at Bempton Cliffs Nature Reserve. It’s a famous spot for bird watching. Gillian lost her balance on the path. She slipped and fell heavily.

Gillian heard a loud crunch in her leg and pain shot through her body. She couldn’t move and lay exposed. Her husband quickly called 999 for help.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance team rushed there, and Coastguard crews also responded quickly. The YAA team fully assessed Gillian’s injuries and worried she lost feeling in her foot. This could mean nerve damage or poor blood flow, making her ankle straightening seem urgent.

They gave her ketamine and gas for pain. Then they airlifted her seventeen miles to Scarborough General Hospital in a flight that took only seven minutes.

Doctors found she had a serious ankle fracture. It was a trimalleolar fracture with dislocation. She had surgery to repair her ankle, with surgeons using a plate and five screws on one side, two screws on the other, and one screw through the ankle’s middle.

Gillian is now recovering with physiotherapy. Doctors think it will take months to heal. She remembers wanting to see puffins and never thought her walk would end like that. The pain was unbearable when she fell, and seeing the helicopter was a relief. She is extremely grateful to the YAA team whose skill made a huge difference, and she won’t forget their help.