©InfoWhen a fun event suddenly went horrifically wrong for a police community support officer, first aid volunteers were on the scene within moments to provide emergency help.
Nina Marsh, who works with Devizes Police, was on duty at the Pewsey Wheelbeero Race – a traditional ‘beer race’ where people in fancy dress follow a two-mile route through the village with stops at various pubs.
Nina was expecting an eventful evening, but events soon spiralled out of her control. Following some friendly banter with a giant-sized race participant, Nina found herself being hoisted into the air.
Agonising pain
Nina recalled: “It was all in good fun – he was joking about my height because I was so much shorter than him – but then he grabbed me around the legs and lifted me into the air. As I went up my back twisted and I was in instant agony.”
Nina had suffered a prolapsed protruding disc and was in agonising pain. Her colleague immediately called for help and first aid volunteers Graham Baker, Lucy Pailor and Paul Jeffery raced to the scene.
Paul said: “When we reached Nina, she was in a lot of pain and was suffering from severe back spasms. After assessing her injury and checking for spinal damage, we administered Entonox (gas and air) to relieve some of her pain then immobilised her for the journey to the hospital.”
‘Incredibly professional’
After carefully placing their casualty in their Red Cross ambulance, the crew set off for Swindon Hospital. Nina recalls the journey to hospital: “I was in a great deal of pain and each volunteer went out of their way to make me as comfortable as possible. At one point, I lost all sensation in one of my legs. I was incredibly scared but they kept reassuring me - and even pulled the ambulance over at one point to make sure I was okay.”
Looking back, Nina said: “From the moment they arrived at the scene until they left me at the hospital, they constantly did everything they could to help ease the pain I was in.
“I can’t put into words how grateful I am to the volunteers who helped me that day. They did a fantastic job. It’s so important to have the Red Cross at public events and, considering they are staffed by volunteers, it’s absolutely marvellous. They were incredibly professional and I can’t praise them enough.”
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