Letitia's Story

(Airwaves Issue 6 Spring / Summer 2008)

Businesswoman and mother Sarah Davies lives on the doorstep of Christchurch’s Hagley Park and is used to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter passing overhead. The regular sight of the helicopter arriving in the park to transfer patients to Christchurch Hospital wasn’t something she paid that much attention to - until she got a call that her daughter was on board.

Thirteen year old Letitia had been enjoying a mid-week school skiing trip at Mt Hutt with friends and teachers from Heaton Intermediate when a serious fall left her concussed, with a broken arm, cracked ribs and internal bruising.

A visiting Australian skier witnessed Letitia’s accident and described what he saw in an email he recently sent to the CWC Air Rescue Trust, concerned for Letitia and enquiring about the outcome.

“I was on the Towers Triple Chair Lift when I saw Letitia ski past the lift on the right hand side. The snow that day was very icy, and snow that looked like powder had frozen and was much harder than the groomed runs. To me it looked like Letitia was out of control and shocked at the speed she was picking up, so she had frozen in a standing stance, which in turn increased her speed. Letitia skied under the chair lift to the left side of the lift as she was going down the mountain, missing the pylons, although still travelling very fast. This is when I became very concerned for her safety.

The next thing that happened was that Letitia was nearing the trail that cuts into the mountain creating a flat section for beginners to ski down. As she neared the trail she fell and her skies came off. She then slid for a few metres and hit a small rise in the snow which propelled her into the air for close to 15-20 metres at maybe 1-2.5 metres off the ground.

Letitia landed on the flat trail that was cutting back across the mountain with a considerable impact, bounced and came to rest 3-4 metres away.

I got off the chair lift and skied down to where Letitia was, to offer assistance, but the Ski Patrol were quickly on the scene and had the situation well in hand. Letitia regained consciousness and but seemed very dazed and was told to not move so they could assess her injuries. She was on the snow for approximately 1/2 hr while they stabilised her to get her onto a stretcher attached to the back of a skidoo. After this she was gone and the only thing I saw after that was the arrival of the Rescue Helicopter.”

Letitia has been a keen skier for about two years and has no recollection of the events leading up to her accident, the crash itself or the Rescue Helicopter flying her to Christchurch Hospital - such is the nature of accidents resulting in concussion or trauma.

For her mother, however, it’s an event she will never forget. Sarah was notified of the accident and met the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and paramedics at the Hagley Park landing zone, before being transferred to hospital.

“The emotions you feel when you find out your child has been injured are just indescribable,” she says. “Without knowing the full story, you imagine the worst and the anxiety of waiting for the helicopter to arrive just adds to it.”

But if there’s one good memory that stayed with Sarah, it is of the paramedic flight crew.

“They were just amazing,” she says. “They told me about everything that had happened to Letitia every step of the way and gave me so much reassurance - they are just so professional and caring.”

For Letitia, the ordeal meant a brief stay in hospital followed by some return visits over the subsequent weeks. Thankfully she is now on the mend, aided by a metal plate and some pins in her arm, a lot of care from her family and a great deal of attention from classmates, friends and teachers at school.

Sarah, meanwhile has taken the opportunity to ‘spread the word’ about the Westpac Rescue Helicopter service and the work they carry out. Sarah runs a successful home-based business supplying Worm Farms around the country as an environmentally friendly disposal method for organic household waste. She is using her website at www.wormzaway.co.nz to encourage visitors and customers to support the Air Rescue Trust through our ‘Helping Hands’ donation programme.

“I’ve seen the Westpac Helicopter flying overhead lots of times. One of our other daughters plays netball at Hagley and the helicopter lands beside them all the time,” she says. “You just don’t really think about what it all means, until it happens to you. But the job these guys do is so incredibly important.”

Letitia was one of dozens of people lifted from virtually every commercial and club ski area in the Canterbury region over the winter season.

In terms of Rescue Missions carried out by our air ambulance and rescue crews this year, Letitia’s was reasonably straightforward, without too many unknown complications. The speed of transfer from the mountain to hospital on the helicopter as opposed to a conventional ambulance increased her chances of making a good recovery by up to 80%.

Regardless of the complexity, success or otherwise of each mission callout, it’s worth considering the huge number of people whose lives become momentarily connected everytime the Westpac Rescue Helicopter flies overhead.