'Thank you,' dad tells NHS staff who helped save his life
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John Maher landed on his left side, breaking most of his ribs and his collar bone and fracturing his skull and several bones in his hand and puncturing his lung in the 10ft fall, which also left him with bleeding on the brain.
The 48-year-old IT director for the University of the Highlands and Islands, recalls that his two children aged nine and seven were playing in the garden of their home at Manse Road, Nairn at the time.
His partner Victoria rang 999 before calling on a retired nurse who lives nearby.
Within minutes, Nairn paramedics were at the scene and he was being rushed to Raigmore Hospital.
He was in surprisingly good spirits that evening, sitting up in bed in the hospital’s intensive care (ICU) unit and “Face-booking people saying ‘I’ve been a bit stupid. I’ll probably be off work for the next a few days’.”
But within hours he was suffering breathing problems and it emerged he had contracted sepsis, which is thought to have sprung from a bacterial throat infection that he had been struggling to shake off days earlier.
Jane Wylie, the hospital’s lead pharmacist in the surgical and anaesthetists team, said the turn was unexpected.
“At first it seemed like he had had quite a straight-forward fall but then we had to try and get on top of an infection because he had sepsis on top of all of the injuries he had,” she said.
Mr Maher was to spend almost four weeks in the hospital.
This week, he went back to the trauma ward to meet up with some of the staff who helped him recover. They spent time recollecting events of that day in May and it was evident how special the reunion was for all involved.
ICU nurse Ewen Corbett said the reunion was “a real buzz” for everyone.
“It’s obviously normal for us to do what we do and it’s a really rewarding job but this is the first time I have seen a patient doing something like this,” he said. “It’s just so great to see him looking so well.”
Mr Maher said the experience made him realise the value of the NHS and he organised the reunion as an expression of gratitude.
“I wanted to thank all the NHS people who are involved in putting someone back together again from the paramedics and the teams in A&E, ICU, surgery, X-ray, scanning, occupational therapy and pharmacy, not to mention the laboratory testing staff and my own GP at Nairn Healthcare Group, Dr Alice Scriven, and my physiotherapist Alan Bulcraig and his staff at Nairn Hospital – and a whole host of other people.”
Partner Victoria Cantwell said: “We are fortunate that the NHS is there to provide these services.
“We take it for granted but when you need it it’s there.”
