When a 17-tonne lorry ran over
37-year-old Robert Williamson twice in October 2010, the injuries
to his legs and pelvis were so severe he wondered if he would ever
walk again.
London Ambulance Service staff who responded to the road traffic
accident on Streatham Hill immediately assessed that Robert needed
specialist care as quickly as possible. Once they’d given him pain
relief and called for back up from London’s Air Ambulance team,
staff decided to take Robert directly to the major trauma centre at
St George’s Hospital, Tooting.
The specialist team at St George’s was ready to continue
Robert’s care when he arrived by ambulance.
One year on, Robert was walking again when he and his
nine-year-old daughter Rhea met two of the ambulance staff that
treated him – Emergency Medical Technician Neil Blackwell and
Student Paramedic Graham Clark.
Neil said: “When I arrived on the scene I could immediately tell
that Robert was very seriously injured. He was conscious and
breathing, but his legs and pelvis needed specialist treatment
straight away to give him the best chance of survival.”
Robert said: “Initially the doctors told me that if I was able
to walk again I would definitely have a severe limp.
“Fortunately that isn’t the case now, but it was very bleak at
the time, I had a lot of extreme pain. If I didn’t have access to
the major trauma centre I might not be walking at this
point.
“It’s incredibly important to me. I’m sure most people want to
be like me and on the way back to their full health and ability
after something like this, and I put this down to the trauma
team.”