Liz’s Story

One of the most common types of call out for Cornwall Air Ambulance is trauma-related missions, often in response to road traffic collisions. In June 2021, Liz Orme was one of those patients after she was involved in a motorbike crash.

The grandmother-of-six was riding through Roche at around 20mph, heading to the services for fuel and a coffee, when the car in front of her started to swerve. The driver had suffered a medical episode, they clipped the wall and flipped their car with it landing on its roof. The impact caused the vehicle’s bumper to go flying straight into Liz and her bike.

Liz lost consciousness and woke up to an off-duty nurse helping her, along with police and paramedics. Cornwall Air Ambulance was tasked, with Critical Care Paramedics Jeremy Griffiths and Steve Garvey, and pilot Adam Smith, landing your AW169 helicopter in a nearby field.

The scene of the crash

On scene, the crew assessed Liz’s condition and whether she had suffered any traumatic head injuries. They administered ketamine, which provides strong pain relief with sedative properties, so they could stabilise her arms and make sure she was safe to be conveyed to hospital.

Liz said: “I can remember the paramedics talking to me putting the ear defenders on me, then the next thing I remember is waking up in Derriford and them telling me I had life-changing injuries.

Liz was airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, where she spent the next five weeks. She had suffered a broken left wrist, a shattered right wrist, a broken nose, elbow, collarbone and ribs, and she had also suffered slight brain damage on her right hand side, which affects her hearing and balance. Liz underwent four surgeries within eight days to realign her wrists and had metal plates inserted into her arm.

Once back home, Liz required a carer for the next six weeks. She now has limited movement in her arm and might require further surgery.

Three years later, Liz has visited our airbase to thank Jeremy

Liz added: “It was a life-changing day, I’d left washing on the line and dishes in the sink, and you just don’t realise that things can change that quickly. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“I could have died that day but here I am, and I have another two grandsons since the accident, it still haunts me, and I still have nightmares. You have got to live each day as you never know what will happen.

“The crew were absolutely fantastic, they must be really overstretched. They definitely need that second helicopter.”

Could you help us to secure a second lifesaving helicopter? Support our #HELi2 appeal here.