THEY HELPED ME

Liam Hall.

“We should give it to the helicopter. They helped me when I was hurt.”

Nelson ICU Nurse Lesa Hall knew when her 5-year old son Liam fell off his bike that he was in a lot of pain, and that she was a long way from specialist care.

“We were in Golden Bay for the long weekend – I had just driven over from Nelson after work and he fell off his bike on a gravel road.”

Lesa said that when she picked him up his distress made her realise his injuries were more serious than a bruise.

“He was crying and screaming for me to stop walking, and once I got him in the car he was screaming at me to stop the car. I knew it wasn’t normal and it was so upsetting to see him in so much pain and distress.”

Lesa was heading to Takaka Hospital to see if they had an X-ray machine, but his screams got louder and louder so she rang 111.

“They could hear him in the background. They said they would send an ambulance but then they rang back and said that he sounded like he was in a lot of pain so they would send the helicopter instead.”

Lesa drove to Takaka hospital to meet the helicopter, and says she felt a huge relief when she heard it coming.

“By the time they got to him his arm and elbow were swelling up badly. They transferred him in his car seat, and were able to give him much stronger pain relief which really helped him calm down.”

Lesa said the helicopter crew were amazing.

“They were outstanding in the way they looked after him. They talked to him directly, told him what was happening and how they would look after him which helped him have some autonomy over his care. He responded really well to that approach.

Lesa said that as a nurse in the ICU at Nelson Hospital she hears the helicopter all the time. “It was amazing to be in the receiving end of the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter service – they do such an important job.”

“If the helicopter had not been available we would have been looking at a two hour drive to Nelson, with a very distressed boy in a lot of pain – a horrible expereince for everyone. I am just so grateful they were able to help us.”

Liam went into surgery early the next morning to have screws put in, and six weeks later was back to his old self.

Lesa has just sold her house, and her agent offered to make a $500 donation to a charity of her choice, so for Lesa and Liam it was a no-brainer. “I asked Liam and he said, “We should give it to the helicopter. They helped me when I was hurt.”