Warwick man who fell from height says he’s “lucky to be alive”

Five years ago, on 18 January Roy Scott from Warwick was treated by the critical care crew onboard the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance when he had an accident at home.

He fell headfirst 20 feet off a sloping roof to the soft ground below and on landing was struck by a scaffolding plank he had been using to stand on.

The heavy piece of wood landed on Roy’s left leg and broke it in three places. After the initial shock of the impact, he tried to move but couldn’t.

“At first I didn’t feel any pain, it must have been adrenaline in my system from the fall.  I realised that my leg was hanging behind me at an angle and soon I was in indescribable agony so I shouted for help,” he says.

Roy’s neighbour heard him and raised the alarm and a St John’s Ambulance, which happened to be passing by, picked up the call. Another ambulance arrived soon afterwards, followed by paramedics.

Lying awkwardly, and by now in excruciating pain, Roy was given morphine and gas and air – but neither gave him any relief and the agony was becoming unbearable.

“The pain was horrendous, it was off the scale. I cannot describe the absolute agony I was in,” he says.

But within minutes of the air ambulance landing on a small area of grass behind Roy’s house, the critical care doctor gave him ketamine and he was made more comfortable before being taken by land ambulance to University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire.

“If it wasn’t for the quick and sustained actions of the ambulance crews and the speedy response of the air ambulance the outcome could have been quite different. I am lucky to be alive, there’s no doubt about it,” says Roy.

He was discharged from hospital after four days, having had an operation to insert a 440mm plate in his leg. He then spent several weeks in bed at home before undergoing physio and hydrotherapy.

A keen golfer since his early Twenties, Roy became captain of the Leamington & County Golf Club a year after the accident. At the AGM when he was elected he announced his wish that Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance be the club’s main charity during his year of office.

With the support of his wife Wendy, members of the club, and local businesses he raised £6,000 which he presented to the on-duty crew at Coventry Airport – where the local air ambulance is based.

Roy says:

“I have seen the yellow helicopter in the sky over my house many times and I didn’t think I would ever need it. Nobody does, but it is there for us all and I am living proof of the amazing work they do. As the charity receives no government funding it is vital that the local community does everything it can to support this amazing cause which keeps lifesaving helicopters flying over Warwickshire and Northamptonshire – and has continued to do so every day during the Covid-19 crisis.”

To find out how you can support your local air ambulance during these difficult times, please click here.