Jo’s Story

Jo Miller was on holiday in Cornwall with her parents when a blood clot got stuck in an artery to her lungs, leaving her in a potentially life-threatening situation.

Jo had travelled down from Leicester in the car with her family, her leg was in a full plaster cast after recently tearing her Achilles tendon whilst playing football. The following morning, at a holiday park in Dobwalls, she was propped up on one leg playing table tennis when she collapsed. Jo lost consciousness and started convulsing and turning blue.

Her parents called 999 and Cornwall Air Ambulance was tasked to the scene. The helicopter landed on the narrow first tee of the golf course.

Jo was suffering from a pulmonary embolism. She had a blood clot in a deep vein of her leg, called deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which had broken off and was blocking a main artery to her lungs. It was likely caused by her plaster cast combined with the long car journey to Cornwall. There were concerns that being conveyed to hospital via land ambulance could dislodge the blood clot further.

The Cornwall Air Ambulance crew monitored Jo’s vital signs and administered pain relief, before airlifting her to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

Jo said: “It was quite amazing when I realised they’d called for a helicopter, it gives you an indication of the seriousness of what you’re experiencing, it was a relief they were coming. I remember being wheeled to the helicopter and I could see it perched on this raised piece of grass and being impressed with how it looks. I was trying to take it all in whilst at the same time trying not to die, I remember drifting in and out a bit. The blades started up and I felt that sensation of moving.”

Jo spent three days in the intensive care unit and 10 days in hospital in total. She was given a clot-busting drug which dissolved the clot. “The CT scan showed the clot was about the size of my thumb, they said I was lucky to be alive”, said Jo.

“I believe that Cornwall Air Ambulance saved my life. I don’t think a road journey would have been good at all, and the speed of getting me there, timing really mattered in terms of getting the treatment that I needed. I had severe chest pain, I think my heart was under a lot of pressure to pump blood past the blockage, I think it really was a matter of time.

“I think the air ambulance is really important, especially in a county as remote as Cornwall, with challenging terrain and the roads aren’t the best. Plus there’s a lot of people doing activities and people on holidays, with lots of opportunities for things to go wrong and for people to need assistance. It’s wonderful what they do.”

All these years later Jo still has the ‘I’ve been airlifted by Cornwall Air Ambulance’ teddy bear which was given to her by the crew.

The 16th August 2024 will be the 15 year anniversary of Jo’s incident, and to mark the occasion she has now become a Heli2 Hero and will have her name featured on your second AW169 helicopter.

Become a Heli2 Hero today.