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No one ever expects to be in an accident which requires assistance from the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance, but for Alice Hadley, this is exactly what happened to three members of her family in the space of just four months.

On 25th June 2016, Alice’s partner Andrew was driving to work when he followed a diversion along a single-track road in South Killingholme, North Lincolnshire. As he rounded a bend, he was involved in a head-on collision with a lorry travelling in the opposite direction.

The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance was called out to the scene, where our on-duty crew treated Andrew and airlifted him to Hull Royal Infirmary – a journey that took just 6 minutes. Once arriving at hospital, it was confirmed that Andrew had sustained 10 broken ribs, a broken coccyx, 8 fractures to his pelvis, a shattered hip socket and severe nerve damage, resulting in a permanent foot drop. Andrew has since undergone a full right hip replacement to help aid his recovery from the accident.

The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance were immediately called to the scene

In August 2016, just two months after Andrew’s encounter with the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance, another member of Alice’s family needed our help. Alice’s parents, Caroline and Mark, and her grandmother Marlene were travelling home from a meal to celebrate Marlene’s forthcoming birthday when their car was involved in a collision at Fonaby Top.  The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance were immediately called to the scene, where they transported Marlene to Hull Royal Infirmary. Unfortunately, Marlene did not recover from her injuries sustained in the collision and sadly passed away two days later, one day before her 74th birthday.

Less than three weeks later the inconceivable happened, as a third member of the Hadley family required the service of the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance.  Alice’s uncle, Nigel, was travelling to Willingham Woods on his motorcycle when he was involved in a collision. On-duty paramedics and doctors from the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance rushed to the scene, where they treated Nigel and airlifted him to Lincoln County Hospital. Later that evening, Nigel was transferred by road ambulance to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, but his injuries were too severe and he passed away that night.

Charity fundraising for LNAA

Following these tragic events, Alice held a charity music quiz at the Yarborough Arms in her home village of Ulceby, North Lincolnshire. An auction and a raffle were also held as part of the event, which raised over £3,600 to help keep our Ambucopter in the sky.

Alice said: “The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance has become such an important part of our family’s life, and we want to do anything that we can do to help this incredible cause.

“It is great to see the charity currently working towards a full 24-hour service and we want to do anything we can to help. My uncle Nigel was initially transferred to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham by road ambulance, as this fell beyond the 7pm curfew for flying at night. Although we will never know what the outcome would have been, we may have been able to save valuable time if the Air Ambulance was operating 24 hours a day.

“You never know when you might need the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance, but you never expect to see so many members of your family need their help on three separate occasions and in such a short space of time. The crew are truly amazing people and what they do every single day is outstanding.”