By Mal Butler
A Blackgang Chine worker has thanked the Hampshire & IW Air Ambulance for saving his life after a devastating motorbike accident 16 months ago.
Harley Gaskin, 36, was left with life-changing injuries to his leg and spine and is facing a below-knee amputation to his right leg.
He was riding back home from work, and detoured across Shanklin seafront, before going to see his family for Mother’s Day. But disaster struck when an oncoming car was in collision with Harley, sending him careering over the roof of the vehicle. He hit the ground and lay stranded in the middle of the road. He said: “I panicked when they said the air ambulance was coming, because you know then it’s serious.
“I remember it very clearly, the light was still green, so I tried to move myself out of the road.” However, as Harley dragged himself to the kerb, his foot remained motionless beneath him, his leg moved but his foot stayed behind. He added: “I knew it was bad. I put my hand under my leg, grabbed above the ankle, and dragged my foot with me.”
Harley had broken both his tibia and fibula and done severe damage to the top section of his lumbar spinal column. Scanning the calls on the dispatch desk, the dispatch team realised the severity of the incident and deployed the duty crew. Harley continued: “I heard a helicopter flying overhead but wasn’t sure if it was the air ambulance.
“The ground crew confirmed it was them and that they were trying to find an area to land. I panicked, but I was sure I wasn’t going to die, so I just had to relax.”
Harley was assessed and given ketamine to relieve the pain. The crew stabilised him before loading him onto a stretcher and into the helicopter. A short flight later, the team arrived at the nearest major trauma unit, University Hospital Southampton. He had to have multiple pins and plates inserted into his leg and now suffers from nerve damage and circulation problems. He is on the waiting list to have a below-knee amputation to his right leg. He said: “I can’t work or mobilise without using my hands, but as soon as I’ve had the amputation and I’ve learned to walk on my prosthetic leg, I’ll hopefully return to work.”
As he adjusts to his new life, Harley is in awe of the lifeline that the air ambulance plays in bringing critical care to people on the Isle of Wight. “If the air ambulance hadn’t turned up it could have been so much worse. I could have had major internal bleeding.
“Thank you to everybody that has supported and donated to the air ambulance – I appreciate you all just as much as the crew for helping them to continue and save lives.”
Isle of Wight Observer