- yesterday
Close Calls On Camera S10E04 (14th April 2022)
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00A close call. A moment of danger when life can hang in the balance.
00:05It was absolute panic and fear.
00:08A split second where the outcome could go either way.
00:11They'd have been lucky if they'd have stayed conscious.
00:13The difference between disaster and survival.
00:16It's literally, that's all it takes.
00:19Hey, what's happening?
00:20These are the people that have been there and lived to tell the tale.
00:24I was terrified. I thought I was going to die.
00:27It's a day they'll never forget.
00:29The day they had a close call.
00:47Today, on Close Calls.
00:49An emergency operator takes a call from a distraught woman.
00:53Ambulance service, what's the full address of the emergency, please?
00:57Hello, can you hear me?
01:00Yeah, I got it.
01:02The caller, a female motorist, is suffering a severe asthma attack.
01:06She's stopped alongside a busy dual carriageway and needs help now.
01:12I could tell that she was very scared and panicked.
01:15She tried to give me the address, but again, could hardly speak.
01:18Are you in a property there or are you on the road?
01:22The road.
01:23The question is, which road?
01:28Also today, a rescuer is rescued.
01:32An experienced climber and cliff rescue team volunteer tackling a sea cliff in Guernsey puts his full weight on a foothold and realises he's in trouble.
01:42It didn't feel right.
01:44It isn't.
01:45My foot came off.
01:47At this point then, the only place I'm going is downwards.
01:51Any chance of reaching safety means calling out his own cliff rescue colleagues and the RNLI.
01:57The A40, near Monmouth, South Wales.
02:09Cars speed past a small family car parked in a lay-by.
02:13Inside, a mum is having a severe asthma attack.
02:17She can't breathe and can barely speak.
02:19Emergency services are desperately trying to find her, with the help of her seven-year-old daughter, Isla, who's dialed 999.
02:28Do you know the colour of your car there, Isla?
02:31Red.
02:32It's red.
02:33OK, thank you.
02:35There's car on the roof.
02:37Hiya.
02:38OK.
02:39A big red one.
02:41Single mum Catherine was born and brought up in Cardiff.
02:54She works as a service coordinator in the care sector.
02:58But her lifelong love is the great outdoors.
03:02And what really floats her boat is being on the water.
03:05One of my biggest passions is canoeing and kayaking.
03:07I only did it through scouting to start with.
03:11Then I've seen a course that said that I could become an instructor.
03:14She's passed her love of nature on to her daughter, Isla, who's seven.
03:19She is as adventurous as I am, but she has got this joy that spills out that is a bit contagious.
03:27The pair have a very close bond.
03:30Sometimes we have girls' night and sometimes we go to swimming pools together.
03:37But it's kayaking that mum and daughter enjoy the most.
03:41The first time Isla went into a canoe was when she was eight months old.
03:45So she's kind of grown up on the water.
03:49It is exciting because sometimes I get her jumping to the ocean or the river.
03:54We've seen dolphins and all sorts.
03:56They would stay underwater for a bit and then come up, so we had to look everywhere to find them.
04:02Their dog, Roley, comes with them.
04:05He loves to sit at the front of the kayak or the canoe, just looking out.
04:10Catherine's overcome a lot to be able to enjoy her outdoor lifestyle.
04:13I was probably diagnosed with asthma when I was two months old.
04:18I had chest infection after chest infection and very quickly I had Ventolin syrup and different stuff.
04:25As a teenager her condition worsened and she was diagnosed with brittle asthma,
04:29a much more serious illness which can come on more rapidly.
04:32I'm very good at knowing my triggers, but the problem with asthma is it always throws a curveball in for you.
04:41And that's exactly what happens one sunny afternoon following a fun day out on the river.
04:47It's the summer holidays and Catherine has invited Bev, a friend from work and her family,
04:58for a day out canoeing on the River Wye.
05:01I haven't known Catherine that long and I met Isla recently.
05:06She's absolutely delightful.
05:08Bev is aware of her friend's condition.
05:11I've worked a couple of shifts with her and you can actually hear her struggling to breathe.
05:16And she doesn't let it stop her doing anything.
05:19The two families set out in convoy in separate cars and, when they reach the river,
05:24take to the water in two boats.
05:27We had a lovely day on the river, had some food and sacks, did a lot of jumping off rocks.
05:33It was really sunny and warm.
05:35Catherine didn't appear to be struggling, but she had taken her pump at the beginning.
05:40When we set off to leave to come back to Cardiff, she did seem to be absolutely fine.
05:46Bev and her family head home.
05:50Catherine and Isla set off shortly after, at a slower pace, due to the kayak strapped to the roof.
05:56Isla sits in the back, playing on her games console.
05:59So I had my headphones on so Mummy could concentrate.
06:02But Catherine is experiencing problems.
06:07And I took another lot of my inhaler to try and shift this tightness.
06:13She carries on with the 45-minute journey.
06:16I was thinking that all I want to do is get home, because if I'm home, I can sort out all of that.
06:22But that's not what happens.
06:24Realising she's concentrating more on her breathing than her driving, she pulls into a lay-by on the busy dual carriageway.
06:32Isla asks what's happening.
06:34She said, why are we stopping?
06:36I said, Mummy's chest isn't good, it'll be alright.
06:39And she went back onto her console.
06:41I could tell she had a little bit of a wheeze.
06:44Catherine needs to use her nebuliser, which turns liquid medicine into a mist, so it can be breathed in through a mask.
06:52She adds an additional component.
06:55I put something called ibupropine bromide in there, which helps lengthen the effect of the ventolin.
07:02So you're making the airways open and then you're keeping them open.
07:06But this time, it doesn't help.
07:08I need more drugs then.
07:11And I was thinking, if I do pass out, there's no-one else here for Isla.
07:16She must get help.
07:18Isla then actually took her headphones off and said, Mummy, do I need to do something?
07:23So I couldn't actually speak very well at that point then.
07:27So she picked up my phone and called Bev.
07:31Bev and her family are a long way ahead when she picks up the call.
07:35Isla's little voice came through, Mummy can't breathe.
07:40And I said, can I speak to Mummy?
07:42No, she can't speak.
07:44Is she driving?
07:45No, we've pulled in.
07:47Bev and her family are approaching the motorway.
07:50There's no option to turn back.
07:52I just felt absolutely sick for them.
07:55And I said, Isla, put the phone down and phone 999.
08:00So I died 999.
08:03This is that call.
08:04Ambulance service, what's the full address of the emergency, please?
08:09Hello?
08:11They're on a busy dual carriageway in the middle of nowhere.
08:14Isla doesn't know how to describe their location.
08:18Catherine summons all her strength to speak.
08:21Hello, can you hear me?
08:24Yeah, Catherine.
08:26On the other end of the line is emergency call handler Madison.
08:29I could hardly hear Catherine on the phone.
08:32She was really struggling to breathe.
08:35I knew that it was going to be one of our highest priority calls.
08:37I could tell that she was very scared and panicked.
08:47She tried to give me the address, but again, could hardly speak.
08:50Is there anybody there with you?
08:55My daughter.
08:56She's seven.
08:57Does she know the address?
08:58Is she able to say it to me?
09:01No.
09:03Are you in a property there or are you on the road?
09:07The road.
09:08OK, do you know what road you're on?
09:12The 840.
09:14840, OK.
09:16And are you travelling from Monmouth?
09:19To Cardiff.
09:21OK, thank you.
09:23Have you got the, what, three words app?
09:26No.
09:27Just bear with me a second, OK?
09:30Madison dispatches a rapid response vehicle and an ambulance,
09:34but she needs an exact location for them to find Catherine's car.
09:39OK, I'm going to send you a link, OK?
09:41So if you can open it when it comes through to your phone
09:44and let me know what the three words say there, OK?
09:47The app will pinpoint their location.
09:50Battling to breathe, Catherine gasps out the words.
09:55Going bigger.
09:57Audio.
10:00Pull off ten.
10:02OK.
10:04The call picks up Isla's anxious cries,
10:07but then there's good news.
10:10They've located you, OK?
10:11So just to confirm, are you the patient there?
10:14Yeah.
10:15OK, and you're struggling with your breathing?
10:18I'm asthmatic.
10:20And when she said that she had asthma,
10:22I knew then it was very serious.
10:27Later, with Catherine in grave danger,
10:29Isla takes over the call to the emergency services.
10:34Do you know the colour of your car there, Isla?
10:37Red.
10:38There's colour from the roof.
10:40I'll tell the ambulance then, OK?
10:51Waterfall buttress, Guernsey.
10:52A rope rescue team secure a climber to a stretcher
10:56halfway down a rocky cliff face.
10:58They're going to have to lower the casualty to sea level,
11:02where three lifeboats are standing by.
11:06We realised it was actually going to be quite a complex job
11:09to get him actually onto the inflatable
11:12when he's, like, fully strapped into a steel stretcher.
11:15And it's not something they've ever rehearsed.
11:2663-year-old Steve was born on Guernsey
11:29and has spent most of his life on the island.
11:32In his 20s, he worked away for three years
11:34and it wasn't long after returning that he met his wife, Sandra.
11:38We settled down, got two children,
11:41eventually managed to buy a house,
11:43which was quite challenging
11:44because house prices in Guernsey are extremely high.
11:48It's the second largest of the Channel Islands,
11:51covering an area of only 25 square miles.
11:54A lot of people, the first thing they do
11:56is drive around the outside,
11:58get back to where they started, you know,
12:0030 minutes later and think, oh, my God, is that it?
12:03Despite its size, Steve feels the island has a lot to offer.
12:07You can go swimming in the morning,
12:09go for a bike ride and then, you know,
12:12go climbing in the afternoon
12:13and go out for a minute in the evening
12:14and you haven't travelled more than five miles.
12:16Steve works in IT, but his passion is climbing.
12:19It's a sport he took up more than 45 years ago.
12:23I worked as an outdoor instructor for quite a few years
12:26and fairly quickly realised that it started turning into a job
12:29and I didn't want it to turn into a job.
12:31So I think having two different aspects to your life
12:34is what probably keeps both of them more interesting.
12:37But Steve still enjoys teaching at the local climbing club
12:40and there's plenty of variety.
12:42There are more than 2,000 ascents on the island,
12:45although all are sea cliffs.
12:48Climbers use a technique called trad climbing,
12:50where equipment is placed in the cliff as they climb.
12:54Your belay are at the other end of the rope
12:56and they've got a belay device, which is a friction device.
12:58If you need to be held, then they just lock the device off
13:02and they effectively act as a counterweight to you.
13:04One of Steve's climbing students, Agita,
13:07joined the club two years ago.
13:09Steve was the one that taught me a lot about trad climbing.
13:14He's always going to be the one to help.
13:17I guess I'm one of the better trad climbers over here, am I?
13:20No, I'm not sure I am, actually.
13:21We've got some very good climbers on the island.
13:25And they all know that in an emergency,
13:28they can call on the Guernsey Cliff rescue team,
13:30which Steve volunteers for, along with his friend Simon.
13:35We do rope rescues anywhere on the cliffs in Guernsey,
13:39anywhere the fire service can't get a timetable ladder to.
13:43But one dramatic day,
13:44Steve and Simon find themselves involved in the same call-out,
13:48in very different roles.
13:52It's a sunny Sunday in August.
13:55Steve and Agita are out with the club
13:57for an afternoon's climbing at Waterfall Buttress.
14:01And it has a varied grading of climbs,
14:05so there's something for everyone there.
14:08They meet up just after noon
14:09and scramble down a steep path to reach the start of the climb.
14:13We had three pairs climbing.
14:15It was beautiful, lovely sunny day.
14:17Steve and his climbing partner, Louise,
14:20are tackling one of the harder climbs called True Grit.
14:24It's a route that starts off easy,
14:27and it's got a sting in the tail.
14:29It's a slab that goes up.
14:31You then reach an overhang.
14:33Once you've made that move, you can't go back.
14:35If you fall before you've got your first bit of gear in,
14:38you're both going to end up in the sea.
14:41Louise is belaying for Steve
14:43while he leads the climb.
14:45Gear was going in well.
14:47Louise was on good form as well.
14:50Nine metres up, he reaches the overhang.
14:54You sort of rehearse the move in your head.
14:57I had to move out to the left
14:59and step up onto a horn of rock,
15:03a little prow of rock that sticks up.
15:05And that's the crux move.
15:07He places a foot on the rock.
15:09It didn't feel right.
15:14I can't downclimb it at that point.
15:16You have to keep going.
15:18I think I said to Louise, just watch me here.
15:21All his weight is on his left foot
15:22as he starts the next manoeuvre.
15:25When my foot came off,
15:27at this point then,
15:28the only place I'm going is downwards.
15:30Steve's climbing partner immediately locks off the rope,
15:35but the equipment doesn't hold
15:36and Steve plummets nine metres down the rock face.
15:40I was upside down, heading to the ground.
15:44So I put my hands out instinctively.
15:47A split second later...
15:49Left hand made hard contact with the ground.
15:52My right hand made some contact,
15:55enough to bruise it.
15:56Then a piece of kit further down does hold,
15:59halting his fall just inches from the rock.
16:02My first thought was relief
16:05that I hadn't hit the ground a lot harder.
16:06A loop of rope caught under his shoulder
16:09helped break his fall.
16:11The left-hand side hit,
16:13right-hand side kind of got pulled back.
16:16I checked myself over,
16:18grabbed hold of my left wrist,
16:19which immediately was very obvious that it was broken.
16:22Everything inside moved.
16:24Agita has just finished her climb,
16:26which he's told about Steve's fall.
16:28I was fairly surprised,
16:30cos he'd told me many times
16:31that he'd never had an accident in 40 years.
16:34I was just sort of worried for his safety.
16:38At the bottom of the cliff, Steve takes a breath.
16:41I guess to a certain extent,
16:42the training kicked in of,
16:44right, this is the situation,
16:46how do we deal with it?
16:47He's bleeding from an injury at the back of his leg.
16:50I could see the corner of the wound,
16:52and it was like, oh, yeah, that's quite bad.
16:54I said to Louise,
16:55can you go up and get my first aid kit from my bag,
16:58and can you get the guys to build an anchor
17:01and get a rope down to me,
17:02cos I'm going to need help getting out?
17:04The cut on his leg is deep and six inches long.
17:08I wasn't going to be able to walk out.
17:09Later, Steve's colleagues from Guernsey Cliff Rescue
17:15are called to his aid
17:16and discover the quickest way off the rock face
17:19by stretcher down to a waiting RNLI boat
17:23is a treacherous operation they've never performed before.
17:27The bottom sort of 30 feet
17:28was just utter slime and seriously slippery.
17:32Are you OK, Steve?
17:34On the busy A40 between Monmouth and Cardiff,
17:47asthmatic mum Catherine is struggling to breathe.
17:50She's pulled over into a lay-by
17:52and her seven-year-old daughter Isla has called 999.
17:56Ambulance service,
17:57what's the full address of the emergency, please?
18:00Hello?
18:01A special phone app has revealed their location
18:05and help is on the way,
18:07but the situation is grave.
18:09When she said that she had asthma,
18:11I knew then it was very serious.
18:14Friend Bev, who spent the day with the family,
18:16is travelling ahead of them.
18:18She's desperate to help, but can't turn back.
18:22Even if we turned at Newport,
18:24we would never have got back up to her in time.
18:27She's filled with relief when she hears sirens.
18:31The ambulance was flying up the other side.
18:34It's paramedic Will in a rapid response vehicle.
18:37So the call came through.
18:38It was a red call,
18:39so one of the highest categories of called.
18:41She was on the opposite carriageway
18:43to where I initially was,
18:44so I had to go up to the next roundabout
18:46and come back down in order to get alongside her.
18:48Also en route is ambulance paramedic Harriet,
18:52driving solo on blue lights.
18:54The control team actually buzzed through to the ambulance
18:57and spoke to me through the radio.
19:00They actually told me that there was an RV en route.
19:03At the roadside,
19:04Catherine's condition is deteriorating fast.
19:08Isla put her hand on my arm
19:10and I knew it was just like,
19:12I'm going to sort this.
19:14Everything got worse,
19:15so I had to answer the rest.
19:16OK, so stay on the line.
19:18I'm going to tell you what to do next, OK?
19:21Yeah.
19:23All of a sudden,
19:24the question was answered by a little girl.
19:27What's your mum's name there?
19:29Catherine.
19:30Catherine.
19:32And what's your name?
19:34Ila.
19:35She was really brave.
19:37She was giving me loads of information
19:38about what was going on with her mum,
19:40making sure that she was still awake.
19:42We're arranging some help for your mum, OK?
19:45My name's Maddie, OK?
19:46So I'm going to stay on the line with you.
19:48Any changes with your mum there,
19:50just let me know, OK?
19:52Do you know the colour of your car there, Ila?
19:57It's red.
19:58It's red, OK.
19:59I can't imagine what Ila was going through,
20:18sitting in the car,
20:19watching her mum get worse by the second.
20:21I was a bit nervous
20:23because if the ambulance didn't get here in time.
20:27At last, Ila sees the response vehicle arrive.
20:31They're behind us.
20:33Who's behind you?
20:35The ambulance.
20:36The guy pulled up behind us
20:38and he came down the side of the car
20:40in between the speeding traffic.
20:42Hello, it's the ambulance.
20:43OK, take care, bye.
20:46Madison rings off
20:47as Will begins to assess Catherine.
20:49The lady was in a terrible state.
20:52She couldn't string a sentence together.
20:54It was one-word answers.
20:56Her daughter was sat on the passenger side.
20:58She was very calm.
20:59She was a bit tearful and a bit upset,
21:01just holding her mum's hand,
21:02trying to keep her mum calm
21:03and trying to help her as best she could.
21:05Will evaluates Catherine's stats.
21:08And I did see, like, the colour drain out of his face,
21:10so I think he knew that we weren't in a good situation.
21:14She needs stronger intravenous drugs.
21:17Minutes later, Harriet arrives.
21:19It's clear there's no time to lose.
21:22We knew that we needed to get her to the hospital.
21:25They do what they can at the scene,
21:27then transfer the whole family,
21:29including the dog, to the ambulance
21:31and head for Grange University Hospital in Combran.
21:35Catherine's taken straight to recess with Isla,
21:38whilst the crew look after the family dog.
21:40Soon after, Bev arrives.
21:42To see Catherine actually sitting up looking OK was such a relief.
21:47Catherine discharges herself later that night.
21:50She's now waiting for scans to discover
21:52if an infection she caught last year
21:54caused damage to her lungs, increasing her symptoms.
21:59My asthma is an ongoing condition
22:01that I will always have to manage and live with,
22:04and we don't know what tomorrow will bring.
22:06But mum and daughter are still enjoying their favourite hobby.
22:10We've been kayaking again to see the dolphins.
22:16Will and Harriet were so impressed with how Isla coped that day,
22:20the Welsh Ambulance Service gave her a commendation.
22:23I think without Isla's quick actions and helping her mum,
22:26we could have been looking at a completely different outcome.
22:29For Isla to have stayed calm and collected
22:32made our jobs a lot easier.
22:34I got it because I saved my mummy's life.
22:37I'm super proud.
22:40I can't say how proud I am.
22:50And so she should.
22:51Young Isla did very well there.
22:54And isn't technology great when it works,
22:56pinpointing exactly where the car was?
22:59Now, back to the Channel Islands and Steve,
23:02a chap who normally takes part in rescuing others,
23:05is now waiting on his fellow cliff rescue volunteers
23:07to rescue him.
23:09And they do.
23:17Climber and cliff rescue volunteer Steve
23:20has fallen nine metres while scaling a sea cleft
23:22on his home island of Guernsey.
23:27Close friend Simon is among the volunteers called out to help him.
23:30The message was a six-year-old male fell
23:34at waterfall buttress with leg injuries.
23:37He discovers it's Steve.
23:40Obviously, knowing the casualty makes it a lot more personal.
23:45At the scene, fellow climber Agita,
23:47who was nearby when the accident happened,
23:49goes to Steve's aide.
23:52He was feeling faint, etc.
23:55So I got him some water and things like that.
23:58She returns to the clifftop
24:00to pass on more information to the rescue services.
24:02I said that it would be beneficial to have a lifeboat come
24:07because at the location where we were at,
24:10the water was really the closest place of rescue.
24:13RNLI crew member Mark takes the call.
24:16Launch red, both boats.
24:19As soon as it comes up red,
24:21you know there's potential risk to life.
24:23Agita takes photographs as the cliff rescue team arrive
24:27and descend the steep 100-foot scramble
24:29carrying their heavy kit.
24:31Straight away they set up an anchor,
24:33they lower down the stretcher.
24:35Simon has given the job of guiding it down to his injured pal.
24:39So I abseil from the anchor point at the top
24:42with the stretcher down to Steve.
24:44A first aider abseils down to join them.
24:48We just had a bit of a joke first,
24:50just to lighten the mood.
24:52There was quite a lot of Mickey taking, actually.
24:54A special bandage is placed over the dressed wound
24:57on Steve's badly cut leg to control the bleeding.
25:00That hurt.
25:03An all-weather lifeboat and two smaller craft arrive on scene.
25:08Mark and a colleague go ashore in a small inflatable,
25:12which can access the shallow rocky creek.
25:15To see someone that's actually sat there,
25:18conscious, talking, in good spirits,
25:21yeah, that puts a smile on your face.
25:22But they still need to get Steve off the cliff.
25:26The quickest way is for the rescue team
25:28to lower him down to a lifeboat.
25:31Agita films on her phone
25:32as they secure Steve to the stretcher.
25:35I was a passenger.
25:36It was down to them to sort out what was going on.
25:39It must be strange to Steve as well,
25:40because instead of being on the rescue side,
25:43he's on the casualty side of the fence.
25:45Simon takes control of the stretcher.
25:48The bottom sort of 30 feet was just utter slime
25:53and seriously slippery.
25:54Are you OK, Steve?
25:56At sea level, a slight swell is rocking the inflatable.
26:00It's going to be a tricky procedure
26:02to transfer Steve to it,
26:04and it's something the cliff rescue team have never rehearsed.
26:08And then we realised it was actually going to be quite a complex job
26:12to get him actually onto the inflatable
26:15when he's, like, fully strapped into a steel stretcher.
26:20Mark transfers back to the inshore lifeboat to make room.
26:24It's not the easiest thing in the world to do.
26:27There is three crew in the water
26:29trying to hold the boat steady.
26:32Basically, the stretcher took up the entire boat.
26:34His head was sticking out onto the bows.
26:36I'm not sure I'd want to be in his situation.
26:40He's got to get through a bit of a swell
26:41and obviously he can't swim because he's strapped into a stretcher.
26:46But they make it to the waiting all-weather boat
26:48and use a man overboard winch to haul Steve up.
26:52An on-board paramedic checks him over
26:54and they head for shore.
26:57At St Peter's port, Steve is transferred to an ambulance
27:00and taken to hospital where his wife and son are waiting.
27:04X-rays show both his wrists are broken
27:08and the wound in his leg needs 13 stitches.
27:12But Simon feels he got off lightly.
27:15If it had been a couple of inches further around,
27:17he would have probably gashed his femoral artery wide open
27:19and bled to death before we got there.
27:21Just a reminder that none of us are invincible.
27:25Steve has now largely recovered from his injuries.
27:29The bones in my wrist are fused.
27:32It doesn't stop me doing anything.
27:33It aches sometimes and my leg aches occasionally.
27:37But all of that will slowly get better.
27:39He's extremely grateful to everyone who came to his rescue.
27:42I had to buy a round of drinks for the cliff rescue team
27:46when we went out for lunch.
27:47They all did a great job.
27:50Interestingly, we'd been trying to plan a combined exercise
27:54with the RNLI for the last couple of years
27:56but haven't been able to do it.
27:57So I like to say that I stepped up to the plate
28:00and organised it for them.
28:01I bet that was a big round of drinks.
28:13His friends won't let you forget that in a hurry.
28:16See you next time for Close Calls.
28:17Close Calls.
28:47Close Calls.
28:48Close Calls.
28:49Close Calls.
28:50Close Calls.
28:51Close Calls.
28:52Close Calls.
28:53Close Calls.
28:54Close Calls.
28:55Close Calls.
28:56Close Calls.
28:57Close Calls.
28:58Close Calls.
28:59Close Calls.
29:00Close Calls.
29:01Close Calls.
29:02Close Calls.
29:03Close Calls.
29:04Close Calls.
29:05Close Calls.
29:06Close Calls.
29:07Close Calls.
29:08Close Calls.
29:09Close Calls.
29:10Close Calls.
29:11Close Calls.
29:12Close Calls.
29:13Close Calls.
29:14Close Calls.
29:15Close Calls.
Recommended
28:45
|
Up next
28:48
28:48
28:49
28:49
28:42
28:46
28:49
28:52
28:55
29:02
29:06
28:49
28:29
28:31
28:56
28:46
28:41
29:05
49:08
48:48
48:44