Type of incident - Medical Emergency
Date of incident - 28/03/07
Time - 4.00pm
Location - Westerham, Kent

Lianne Cresswell, 26 at the time, was leading her horse into stables when it suddenly bolted, when a peacock startled it. The horse reared up with such force that Lianne was unable to hold on and this struggle resulted in Lianne being thrown to the ground, where she smashed her head on a concrete path.

 

Lianne’s husband, Simon, was with her that day and quickly ensured that the horse was secure and was not going to trample on Lianne. Simon then went to attend to Lianne, and was horrified when blood started to gush out of her ears, nose and mouth. He could get no reaction from Lianne, her breathing at this stage was coarse and erratic.

 

The emergency services were called, and the Kent Air Ambulance arrived 10 minutes later, landing in a paddock next door. It took the crew 30 minutes to prepare Lianne for the journey to hospital. Lianne had lost a lot of blood, so the crew had to ascertain the exact cause of bleeding, as well as checking for other injuries.

 

Lianne was taken to the Royal London Hospital, a 10 minute journey by air, and was rushed into intensive care. Lianne was in a coma for 5 days, having suffered three fractures to the back of her skull. She has since been told that doctors doubted she would survive. Finally, after several false starts, Lianne was successfully brought out of her coma.

 

Lianne spent a month in the Royal London before being transferred to Kings College Hospital, a centre for brain injuries. At this stage, Lianne had difficult speaking and her memory was very poor.

 

On 4 July 2007, Lianne was finally allowed home. However, the incident had taken away a lot that Lianne previously took for granted. She had to learn to be a mother again, she lost her sense of smell and had to learn how to read from scratch. It was only around the end of 2007, that she felt she was back to a position she had been before the accident.

 

As Lianne says: ‘I don’t remember anything about it. I have since been told that the Kent Air Ambulance saved my life and I can’t thank them enough.’ Her husband, Simon, adds: ‘the Kent Air Ambulance is an essential service. They play a huge role in society. It was the saving of time that saved Lianne’s life.’

 

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