Alistair Robert Keron

On Friday 27th November 2015, Alistair Robert Keron, was maintaining the gardens of his property in Worcestershire, when a falling branch left him in a critical condition.

Alistair who was 66 at the time, was trimming overhanging branches on his smallholding in rural Pensax, where he was living with his wife Sue.

Alistair explains: “I was up a ladder trimming branches overhanging some grassland, prior to ploughing. As I cut one branch away, it fell and bounced from the ground, hitting the ladder and knocking me to the ground.”

Alistair hit his head on the branch as he fell, which rendered him unconscious.

Alistair continues: “When I came round around five minutes later, I was unable to walk. I realised I needed to get help so I crawled to the house, which was around 200m away.

“I shouted for my wife who was horrified but remained calm when she saw the extent of my injuries. The whole of the front of my scalp had come away from my head, so she very bravely put it back in place and covered it with a towel to stem the severe bleeding, whilst dialling 999.”

Within five minutes, the local first responder Martin Bennett arrived, closely followed by an ambulance and then the Midlands Air Ambulance from Strensham, with critical care paramedics Julian Spiers and Stuart Evans on board.

The land and air ambulance crews were concerned that Alistair may have sustained a brain, neck or spinal injury, so he was airlifted to The Worcestershire Royal Hospital and kept in a neck brace for several hours in hospital. 

The journey which would have taken over 30 minutes by land ambulance, took approximately seven minutes by air.

Alistair adds: “I understood later on that the travel time to hospital was greatly reduced thanks to the air ambulance. I therefore received treatment in hospital much earlier than if I had travelled in a land ambulance.”

Alistair had sustained a severe scalp injury and several minor skull fractures around his right eye. Luckily, the fractures were not large enough to require any treatment. His scalp injury required stitching under general anaesthetic.

Alistair concludes: “I gave my wife quite a scare and she suffers more longer term trauma than I do.

“I am grateful to have no lasting injuries, and I am so thankful to the Midlands Air Ambulance for the care they administered, and for getting me to hospital in a quarter of the time.”