Four-year-old Cooper knows that mum got sick and had to go in the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
So, when given the chance to visit the GCH Aviation Air Rescue Base, he was pretty excited.
“I can’t believe he’s just as interested in the tractor but, being a farm kid, I shouldn’t be surprised. He loves tractors,” Emma laughs.
Emma was at her parents-in-law’s farm in Mayfield with three-week-old Cooper when she started bleeding. She’d had a few scares during her pregnancy with Cooper and required an emergency caesarean section, but after a week in hospital she felt “really great”.
“That morning, though, the bleeding just wouldn’t stop. I waited and hoped it would get better but after an hour and a half I thought I could be in trouble. I called my midwife and she said to call 111 straight away.”
Emma was having a post-partum haemorrhage and had already lost half a litre of blood. The Westpac Rescue Helicopter was dispatched straight away.
“The rescue crew gave me tranexamic acid and managed to get the bleeding to stop by the time I reached Christchurch Hospital.”
But that wasn’t Emma’s first rescue helicopter ride. When she was 16 years old Emma was involved in a speedway accident at Sunset Speedway in Westport. With a suspected spinal injury, the rescue helicopter picked her up from Westport Hospital.
“It turns out it was muscle trauma, but I never got medical clearance to race again. I still have some nerve damage and when I get cold my fingers and toes get a bit tingly, but it could have been so much worse.”
As well as experiencing the rescue helicopter from the patient perspective, Emma has worked alongside the rescue helicopter crews through her role as a volunteer firefighter for the Hinds Fire Brigade.
“We’ve had to set up landing zones and things like that. I’ve loved chatting to the pilots and crew and seeing the rescue service from a non-patient point of view.
“Seeing the rescue helicopter crews in action is awe-inspiring.”
Emma is now pregnant with their second child and her midwife is keeping a close eye on her.
“We had a pre-term labour scare with Cooper not long before the flooding happened and the bridge was closed. I was terrified that something would go wrong and I’d be stuck on the other side of the bridge.
“But I don’t feel worried this time. I know this is a high-risk pregnancy, but I also know that if I need it, the rescue helicopter will be there.”
“Having the rescue helicopter there just reassures me; everything will be OK.”
