Patient thanks SAS team who saved his life after major motorcycle accident

In April this year, Gary Viljoen was driving his motorcycle in Dollar with a friend when the brakes failed, causing him to crash into a tree at speed. His friend called for an ambulance, and a team of SAS paramedics, advanced practitioners and an Emergency Medical Retrieval Service (EMRS) team came to their aid.

Gary was airlifted to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) with significant injuries. After four months in hospital and two of those in a coma, with the help of physical therapy he has been making an excellent recovery and is now walking with the assistance of crutches.

His wife, Julie Viljoen said: “The air ambulance got him to the QEUH Major Trauma Centre for life-saving surgery. We nearly lost him twice within a short period of arriving, so had the air ambulance not transported him, he may not have made it.

“I’ll be eternally grateful to the first responders. Not only did they save his life, and ensure my two children have a daddy, but their careful work also ensured my husband will eventually walk and hold his kids again.”

Gary, Julie, and daughter Storm personally met and thanked Joel Symonds, Advanced Critical Care Practitioner; Arran Keir, Consultant Anaesthetist; and Julie Cathcart, Advanced Retrieval Practitioner at SAS’ ScotSTAR base, which is staffed by a multi-disciplinary team of paramedics, nurses, advanced practitioners, and doctors, supported by pilots, who work together to provide life-saving care to some of Scotland’s most vulnerable patients.

Gary said: “I can’t thank the team enough for all they did on that day. It’s a day I'll never forget for so many reasons, but I feel very thankful that I had the help of all of the medical teams that day, as well as the wonderful folks that stopped at the side of the road.

“The team kept my wife informed, kept me stable and have given me a second chance at life."