Elaine's Story

Elaine (55) and her 18-year-old daughter Jessie had enjoyed a great day out at Bruar Falls and nearby retail outlet, the House of Bruar.  Ready for home. Jessie opted to drive and, along with beagle Lily, they started their journey to Larbert along the A9.

“I remember Jessie pulling out onto a clear road and heading south,” said Elaine. “And then - nothing.”

By chance, Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) Perth-based helicopter was flying nearby when it picked up the emergency call to respond to a head-on collision on the A9. Within minutes, the helicopter touched down, as numerous other blue light services raced to the scene.

Jessie died instantly in the impact and Elaine’s life hung in the balance as emergency services battled to free her from the wreckage and airlift her to critical hospital care. Crushed and trapped in the footwell of the front passenger side, Elaine was thankfully unaware of the multiple life-threatening injuries she had sustained – or the tragic loss of her daughter.

Working with Elaine, SCAA paramedics grew increasingly concerned and knew her only chance of survival rested on getting her to hospital as quickly as possible. As soon as she was cut free, she was airlifted by SCAA to the Major Trauma Centre at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee – saving over an hour’s travel time compared to the equivalent road journey.

Elaine suffered a horrendous catalogue of injuries – 23 broken ribs, eight spinal fractures, two ankle fractures, a broken toe, a ruptured bowel, a punctured lung, a torn kidney and facial injuries.

Two weeks later, Elaine was brought out of her coma to what she describes as “a world of hell”.

“People kept telling me Jessie had gone but I couldn’t take it in,” she said. “I didn’t want to believe it. I couldn’t understand why I was in hospital. I didn’t remember being in an accident. I was really frightened.

“A nurse finally got through to me that Jessie was dead - I sank back in the hospital bed and cried my heart out. She was cremated two days later and I couldn’t attend. She was my life and I’d lost her, without even being able to say goodbye.”

During the rest of her time at Ninewells and thereafter at Forth Valley Hospital, Elaine learned of the role SCAA played in her survival and was determined to thank the charity personally.

Around the first anniversary of the accident, Elaine was reunited with the SCAA crew that she believes saved her life.

“Meeting the men who were there beside me and Jessie was so humbling. I felt so privileged to be able to talk with them and I was so touched that they remembered me and were able to speak about Jessie.

“I’ll never fully recover but I just hope I’m not a disappointment to them and that they feel their efforts were worthwhile. Thank goodness there are people like SCAA’s crew there for us all.

“It was indescribable to say how I felt. Thank you seemed so inadequate, but I just wanted to thank them – from the bottom of my heart. No one involved at the scene of the accident thought I would make it, but SCAA gave me a second chance at life.

“I will never know why I lived and my beautiful daughter died in that accident. I only know that without SCAA, two people would have lost their lives on the A9 that day instead of one.”