Airlifted out of the Pentlands with a broken collar bone.

The hills look good from the (gas and) air.

All filmed for ‘Highland Emergency’. Very rare for me but I was MAMIL. In my second best lycra too. Oh the shame.

Airlifted out of the Pentlands with a broken collar bone.

Wiggins just gets chucked in the back of a car!

Bummer. Where were you? What happened to the bike? I saw the copter in the pentlands on Saturday

Chuck some cash in their collection next time you see one, they’re a charity funded unit.

And get well soon.

Helicoter for a collarbone?

I walked almost 5 miles back to the road and then had 2 hours in the car when I did mine!

I strapped mine together with twigs and shoe laces and finished the 10ft drop off before riding 50 miles to the A&E when I did my collar bone.

Couldnt be bothered to wait so ended up using the receptionists staple gun to hold it together and went for a curry instead.

It was on Hare Hill. I don’t know what happened other than I bounced a good way, split my helmet and the slightest movement of my arm was agony. Maybe I have a low pain threshold – I’ve broken ribs in the past but this way more painful than that.

A guy out fell running sat with me until the paramedic got there and took my bike down for me.

🙂 good skillz slimjim.

I rode out the wood all be it slowly and then went for a cuppa tea in the local cafe while i waited for somones wife to come and take me to A&E so I didnt waste the ambulances time 🙂
And I bust it in 4 places so it wasnt a small impact worst bit was all the p1ss taking making me laugh hurt like hell 🙂
But hope it heals well and your feeling better soon oh and dont expect to get a good nights sleep for a few weeks lol

I rode home across the South Downs with a displaced clavicle, was pretty high on adrenaline and concussion.

I’m convinced i’ll take a trip in the helicopter one day. That’s why i always put some change in their collection tins when i see one.

Hope your shoulder heals soon (been there done that, but the pain was barely noticeable for me as the searing pain coming from my elbow joint sticking up through my forearm masked the collarbone pain).

As usual… This thread is useless without pictures/x-rays!

Skied two runs and took two chairlifts to get back when I did mine.

It was stupid and very nearly came through the skin. Had I fallen again or jarred it I could have been looking at an open fracture.

Was suitably told off by doctor.

Bazzer

I walked almost 5 miles back to the road and then had 2 hours in the car when I did mine!

That’s nothing. I popped the protruding half of my collarbone back into place whilst still on the mountainside, then got up and walked to the hospital 6 miles away.

Ok, only 50% of this is true. I walked down to the ambulance at the bottom of the mountain.

i broke a toe on my first run down Hindhead yesterday, having just survived 2 weeks riding in canada with only cuts. Typical.

very nearly came through the skin

Me too – I was so dazed I assumed is was a dis-located shoulder and tried relocate it, nearly compounding my own fracture – grand muppet. I’ve since heard dis-locations are far more painful.

Hope you manage to escape without a plate.

Best of luck, don’t rush recovery?

I feel rather humbled.

fun innit

i was off my tits on shock/morphine when they got me into the chopper though, i thought the sign above my head saying ‘max load 1Kg’ was hilarious. my wife didn’t see the funny side, possibly as they were suctioning blood out of my face at the time

oh and make sure you give a decent donation. send a twee thankyou card and you might make it into the highland rescue edit as well 🙂

Broken bones do vary the amount of pain and shock.

if kunstler called for a paramedic and the paramedic called for the big whirly bird then its not really a case of Kunstler should MTFU is it?

i bet he ran around like a big girl screaming ‘i need the helicopter’ over and over. 😉

Crikey, I was up Hare Hill yesterday morning too, for the first time in months… was it on the descent to Green Cleugh? There’s a couple of pretty substantial drop offs appeared since my last visit (at least, that’ll be my excuse for dabbing..)

Hope it’s a quick healer.

Healing vibes mate.

All the cool kids have broken their Collar bones.

ouch!
Hope your recovery goes well. Was decent of the runner to help you out.

I didnt know you could be airlifted orf the Pentlands. I have wondered what happens if you spangle yourself up there. Had visions of the paramedics taking having to yomp cross country.

I guess if you had split your helmet they might fear a head injury so would prefer to whisk you off with the helicopter rather than bounce you along the track homer simpson stylee.

I broke my collar bone last July too so I feel your pain – at least you’ve had most of the summer’s riding in. Get a good sling – the nhs collar and cuff is awful. Be sure to chase some physio – the doctor who x-rayed me told physio to leave it too long before starting gentle movement and I got a frozen shoulder that kept me off the bike for months more. Dihydrocodeine is a great way to spend the day too, though I don’t know if you would get that for just a broken collar bone.

Bad luck on being filmed – will keep an eye out for you!

I do wonder at times what the procedure is for use of helicopters in rescues. IMO (and I am no expert what so ever) a broken collar bone is not life threatening and therefore shouldnt have needed a helicopter.

Dont suppose you asked what the avg cost of an airlift was? I bet it was in the thousands?

I know that everyones pain thresholds are different but didnt you consider walking out from where you were?

Funky dunc – I believe quite often they use incidents like this as “live exercises”.

Edit – I have dealt with broken bones a few times – never even called an ambulance always organised self evacuation / transport to hospital. I even got the bus once with a broken collarbone.

However every incident is different and while on the surface a whirlybird seems excessive for a collarbone Kunstler called a paramedic who made the call for the whirleybird

If it was a Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) helimed, then it’s paid for by the tax payer. As an NHS trust, the SAS use its budget to provide air cover. The helicopters/pilots are supplied by an outside company, and Paramedics from SAS do the navigation and medical cover.

Edinburgh also have a six wheeled ATV available in the Pentlands as part of the Special Operations Response Team (SORT).

(ex SAS Paramedic)

I’m guesing that as you’d split your helmet and broken your collar bone that they’d be thinking spinal injury. Kunster didnt make the decision to get a helicopter – the people whose job it is to make the decision did.

It’s just a wild stab in the dark, but I’d think that they know more about who does and does not need helicopter evacuation than any idiot on here.

broken collar bone is not life threatening

yeah but a split helmet indicates quite a big head impact – health service are very responsive to anything to do with your head – in fact I think a great way of beating the A&E queues would be to say you hit your head even if you didn’t as I think you get seen straight away rather than waiting for hours to get stitched up, bit cheeky though.

Broken collar bone is pretty damn painful though and I don’t think I’d want to walk far with it – you get some weird things going on with your body after a big crash with the shock and that much pain, might not have been easy to walk.

they were probably just waiting for something for the film crew to film anyway 8)

Edinburgh also have a six wheeled ATV available in the Pentlands

presume it’s an argocat in which case it’d be quicker to walk 😀

Unlucky Rob, sounds painful

Glad you enjoyed the helicopter trip, hope it makes up for some of the embarrassment of having your pain recorded for everyone elses entertainment. 😉

Hope you have a swift recovery.

Funky dunc – I believe quite often they use incidents like this as “live exercises”

Yep, you can actually make a fairly convincing argument that the overall cost of RAF helicopter use for Mountain Rescue is negative as they use it for training and if they didn’t they would have to pay extra to set up exercises.

If I understand it correctly when the paramedics request RAF help they can just say no without giving a reason but they don’t as even if the injury isn’t life threatening it is good training.

Kunstler – hope it heals up quickly!

Helicopter for a broken collarbone!

My wife and I were riding up at aberfoyle in the early 1990’s, she went over the bars on some rocks and broke her collarbone. Rode back to the car park over the dukes pass then drove our 2cv, no power steering obviously, back to Glasgow.

I’m not getting at the op btw just feel duty bound to tell the story.

Helicopter appropriate for either life threatening, difficult access, extended duration to hospital by road, or need for a specially qualified medic on scene (advanced airway, more drugs, etc). Sounds completely appropriate in this instance. For all you heros out there, well done for coping, bit be aware no two fractures are the same, depending on the pathology of the injury. ie; nerve, blood vessel, underlying organ involvement, etc.

Told my two sons to “ride around the bomb crater a bit” whilst I clutched my arm and tried not to cry too much 😯 and inspected my split helmet. Walked out then rode one handed back to the Lookout. The boys helped load the car and putting my bike on the roof was VERY unpleasant. The drive home was “interesting” and I looked grey when I got home. Went into A and E the next day – Sunday evenings are murder. On the plus side, it now looks like an AC separation rather than a fracture 🙂 (I think). Two weeks in…

Hope you are back on the bike soon.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXY9TuuwyL8[/video]

Tyler Hamilton fractured a shoulder in a crash in the 2002 Giro D’Italia yet managed to finish second.
In the 2003 Tour de France he cracked a collarbone in the first stage, and stayed to finish the tour.
That year, he rode one of the Tour’s most memorable feats.
He won Stage 16 with a 142 km solo breakaway, and placed fourth overall.

Erm…..you need to man up a bit matey! 😆

Gary_M – you made her drive?

yoda – I think Tyler may have had some “assistance”.

hang on hang on, last night I was out on some gnarly singletrack, wearing shorts..and I got stung on my left leg by some nettles that I couldnt avoid.
I fought through the pain and carried on regardless.
My riding buddy was speechless.

Hope you manage to escape without a plate.

Best of luck, don’t rush recovery?

Mine is fine now (well I have a big lump still)it was about 5 years ago now, no plate and it healed fairly quickly. Still aches a bit now and then.