A family from Egremont who were seriously injured in a head-on collision featured on the TV series Emergency Helicopter Medics this week.
Ian McCrickard, 51, and his sons Jack McCrickard, 14, and Harry, 11, were at the centre of a major emergency response following the road traffic collision on the A5086 near Deanscales in October 2018.
Ian was trapped in the car for an hour and 45 minutes, and his son Jack also needed to be released from the wreckage.
While Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service had started to cut the father and son out of the car, both aircraft from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) had flown to the scene and requested assistance from the North West Air Ambulance.
On board one of GNAAS’ helicopters was a camera crew filming for Emergency Helicopter Medics, who captured the aftermath of the collision.
The episode focuses on Jack, who was only nine years old when he suffered a broken femur, two broken wrists, and a broken nose.
By his side is his mother Lisa McCrickard, 41, who still remembers the call she received from the police before she was driven to the scene of the incident.
She said: “I was at work and when I answered it they said it was the police and your family have been involved in a car accident, but they just wouldn’t tell me if they were alive or not.”
Upon her arrival, her youngest son Harry, was being airlifted to hospital, while Jack had just been cut out of the car, and her husband was still trapped in the wreckage.
All three members of the family were given advanced pain relief and airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle where they received further treatment for their injuries.
Harry ended up spending his sixth birthday in hospital after suffering internal bleeding, a fractured pelvis and a broken shoulder.
His father Ian broke both his legs, his leftt knee, a big toe, a finger on his left hand and also suffered lots of lacerations to his hand and arm.
The brothers were in hospital for three weeks, while Ian remained in hospital for a further week.
The family have since raised thousands of pounds for GNAAS in a variety of ways including Jack climbing Scafell Pike, and Lisa running the Manchester Marathon.
Lisa said: “It’s so important to keep supporting the air ambulance because still to this day I can’t believe they are charity funded. You never know when you might need them.”
The episode featuring the McCrickard family is available to view on Channel 4’s website.
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