A man whose arm was amputated after he was involved in a serious motorcycle collision has personally thanked the medics from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) who saved his life.
Rob Hope, 43, from Brampton, was riding his motorbike on the A596 between Aspatria and Prospect when he was involved in a collision with a van on May 4.
Both the North West Ambulance Service and GNAAS arrived at the scene to assess Mr Hope’s injuries.
The father-of-one said: “I had a fractured tibia, smashed knee, femur, and hip, and a completely smashed arm.”
The GNAAS doctor-led team administered both blood and plasma to Mr Hope on the roadside before airlifting him to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle.
He said: “I remember being taken to the RVI and then stabilised to see if I’d survive the night basically, because I wasn’t expected to live. So luckily enough I got there just in time.”
Mr Hope spent five weeks in hospital and had plastic surgery on his leg to help heal his wounds, while his arm had to be amputated.
He said: “I knew from when I crashed it was gone, you could tell just by the position it was in, where I thought it was it was completely different.
“I’ve got many, many years of recovery ahead of me, lots of surgeries. I won’t be beaten by it, so bring it on.”
Mr Hope recently visited the GNAAS base at Langwathby and met Dr Theo Weston and paramedic Terry Sharpe who treated him and thanked them for saving his life.
He said: “Donating to the air ambulance is vital. I’m living proof I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the charity. Even the surgeons in the hospital have said I should be dead, I should have died on that tarmac. So I owe my life to the air ambulance.”
Rob is part of the Freemasons and has supported GNAAS in the past. Since the incident his employer Crown Promotional Packaging has donated more than £1,000 to the charity.
Last year GNAAS was called out more than 1,000 times and needed to raise £5.1m. To find out how you can help, please visit www.gnaas.com or call 01768-899150.
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