Crew join airlifted patient for first run since suffering serious leg injury in road traffic collision

Andrew Blizzard, a keen marathon runner from Truro, was out training in August 2022 when he ran out in front of a motorbike.

He was running along a trail and went to cross a road whilst keeping up the pace. He was focused on avoiding a car and didn’t notice the motorbike coming the other way. It hit Andrew’s right leg and he went up into the air and back down onto the road.

The dad-of-two said: “I looked down at my leg and it was floppy with the bone sticking out, and at a horrible angle, I realised I’d broken it badly.”

Cornwall Air Ambulance was tasked to the scene, with critical care paramedics Paul Maskell and Jeremy Griffiths on board. Andrew had suffered an open fracture, and the crew administered both advanced pain relief and sedation to they could stabilise his leg before moving him.

Andrew said: “They said to me that the air ambulance was coming, and I could hear them flying trying to find somewhere to land, I was trying to keep it together, so when they turned up it was relief to know there was someone here who was an expert who could help me. Paul is a big runner so when they turned up and we started chatting about marathons, it really put me at ease.”

He was airlifted to Derriford Hospital where he spent two weeks in total and underwent two surgeries. He had broken both the tibia and fibula and needed to have a titanium rod inserted into his leg, with pins on either side, along with a skin graft.

The start line for the Blizzard Mile

Now 10 months on since his incident, Andrew has completed his first run as part of a fundraising event for Cornwall Air Ambulance.

On Sunday 25^th June Andrew was joined by around 150 others for the ‘Blizzard Mile’ at Saint Piran Café in Bissoe, which included a run, band, barbecue, raffle and prizes. Paul and Jeremy were among those who ran alongside him, and in their Cornwall Air Ambulance kit.

Paul Maskell, critical care paramedic at Cornwall Air Ambulance, said: “When we arrived on scene that day it was clear that Andrew had suffered a nasty open fracture to his lower leg, which was compromising the circulation to his foot, and he was in a lot of pain. We sedated him so that we could reduce the fracture, both to minimise blood loss and restore the circulation below his injury. His leg was splinted, and we administered intravenous antibiotics to help prevent infection. It’s a difficult injury to recover from as a runner, so it was great to be able to see how well he’s doing now and to run alongside him. He’s making a really strong recovery.”

As well as running again for the first time, Andrew decided he’d like to try and raise the cost of his flight to hospital.

He said: “I think it’s one of those, you see them around and see them flying, what happened to me made me realise it can literally be anyone at any time who requires that service. And the fact that service is there is incredible, particularly in Cornwall with the nature of where we live there are lots of remote places, it’s a great service, one that we can’t do without.”

Paramedics Paul and Jeremy before the race