Roy's Story

Aged 72, Roy Rodger still loved his motorbike ride outs with his brother.

What should have been a relaxing summer excursion in the Highlands, however, turned to terror as Roy’s front wheel caught in a pothole while navigating a bend and sent him spiralling into an oncoming car.

Roy’s body smashed into the headlight, front bumper, wheel and mudguard of the vehicle, throwing him back across the road broken and semi-conscious.

“I vaguely remember lying in the road, trying to sit up and take my helmet off – before everything went black,” he recalled. “As I drifted in and out of consciousness, I felt myself being carried on a stretcher – and then nothing more.”

Roy’s wife Jan and his brother William have filled in the blanks for Roy as the fight for his life unfolded at the roadside near Tomintoul.

“My brother phoned Jan to tell her what had happened but as she arrived at the accident scene, SCAA had already been and was lifting off again,” said Roy. “They moved so fast – I believe that speed helped save my life.”

SCAA had airlifted from its Aberdeen base with a specialist doctor-led team, effectively bringing the Accident and Emergency department to the roadside accident scene. Roy was then airlifted to the Major Trauma Centre at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in around 40 minutes – less than half the time it would take by road.

There, Roy was given special permission to bend 2020 Covid restriction rules and see his wife before he was taken to theatre.

Roy’s catalogue of injuries included: internal bleeding; a double break in his lower leg; a broken pelvis and ripped tendons resulting in a floating kneecap – injuries that resulted in lengthy operations to insert pins and plates.

Now almost fully recovered, albeit nursing a permanent limp, Roy reflected on the vital role SCAA played in his chain of survival.

“The way I am able to get about and the life I lead now is undoubtedly due to SCAA,” he said.

“I was bleeding and broken – obviously seriously injured – and I dread to think what would have happened if SCAA hadn’t been there so quickly.

“They were more than life-saving – they gave me a quality of life that I wouldn’t have had without their speedy arrival at scene and rapid airlift to hospital care.

“I never, ever imagined I would need the help of an air ambulance – no one does. You never consider the men and women who crew these helicopters or the thousands of supporters who keep their life-saving service in the air – until it happens to you.

“SCAA is a vital lifeline for those ill or injured in remote locations – such as motorcyclists out for a day’s ride – and I’ll be grateful to them for the rest of my life. They lessened the horror of a day that could have been my last.”