Jonathan’s Story

In September 2022, everything changed for 36-year-old Jonathan when he suffered a life-threatening medical emergency in the middle of the night at his home in Peterborough.

Jonathan lived alone but was able to call 999 before losing consciousness. On arrival, emergency services had to break the door down to gain access to Jonathan’s home and immediately called for the advanced care from East Anglian Air Ambulance.

The critical care interventions that the EAAA crew provided at scene were essential steps in helping to give Jonathan the best possible chance of survival, when his life hung in the balance.

Thanks to your support, Jonathan was given an emergency anaesthetic, before being intubated and ventilated and then transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, the region’s Major Trauma Centre.

After spending nine weeks in a coma and undergoing neurological surgery, Jonathan recovered having suffered a haemorrhage on both sides of his brain and three aneurysms.

This is Jonathan’s story

Content warning: Video contains audio from the actual 999 call.

“It started on the Saturday when I woke up with a really bad headache. It felt like a hammer on my brain, so I decided to spend the day at home, resting. I am a big football fan, Arsenal is my team, so watched a bit of football that day and then watched my usual Saturday night TV before going to bed.”

Jonathan’s condition deteriorated

Jonathan slept but on Sunday morning the pain was even worse. He took painkillers throughout the day, however, in the early hours of the morning, he woke up and couldn’t move his body. He then knew something was seriously wrong and he needed help. He fell out of bed and was still in a lot of pain, but he somehow managed to call 999. He was able to confirm his name and address to the call handler. He also vividly remembers saying that somebody would need to break down the front door as it was locked and bolted.

A life-threatening diagnosis

Identifying that Jonathan could be suffering from a critical neurological event, the team from EEAST quickly requested help from East Anglian Air Ambulance. On shift that night were EAAA’s Dr Ed Gold and Critical Care Paramedic (CCP), Andy Bates from our Cambridge base. They reached Jonathan at 4am by Rapid Response Vehicle to provide full critical care support.

Time was of the essence as Dr Ed and CCP Andy worked hard to stabilise Jonathan ahead of a transfer to Addenbrooke’s Hospital. They gave Jonathan a pre-hospital emergency anaesthetic, intubated and ventilated him so they could take control of his breathing.

Once Jonathan was stable, Dr Ed and CCP Andy then accompanied him by land ambulance to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, where it was confirmed that he had not only suffered a haemorrhage on both sides of his brain, but he also had three aneurysms. It was a life-threatening situation. Jonathan spent nine weeks in a coma and underwent neurological surgery, which caused him to temporarily lose his sight.

The long road to recovery

He then started a very long road to recovery, regaining his sight after further surgical procedures and working hard on his rehabilitation. “I pushed myself daily; walking, stepping and doing my best to coordinate my movements again. I celebrated all these little achievements. I was able to go home and live independently in June 2023, and I even went back to work in September 2023, a year after my incident.” Jonathan says.

The importance of Aftercare

This may not have been possible without the urgent out-of-hospital care he had received on the night of his incident, but further to this, Jonathan also connected with EAAA’s Aftercare service. He received support from Clinical Liaison Nurse, Lisa, who facilitated a visit to EAAA’s Cambridge base so Jonathan could meet EAAA CCP Andy, and James May, Paramedic and Katie Mowatt, Apprentice Emergency Medical Technician from EEAST, who had attended him that night.

A new perspective

“I now think of life differently. The help from everyone, including EAAA, has meant so much to me and my friends and family. The Aftercare support since has been excellent - and vital for me. I only have lovely things to say; I’m over the moon and full of praise for everything EAAA has done."