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The
weekend started badly for Dial-a-Cab dispatcher Richard Ross when he
suffered an anxiety attack and was admitted into hospital. Following his
discharge on the following Tuesday, he crossed Queensbridge Road from his
Hackney home to buy a newspaper, but made the cardinal sin of reading the
paper whilst walking home and was run over by a car as he crossed back over
the busy main road… "I remember going up in the air," Richard told Call Sign from his bed in Homerton Hospital to where he had been transferred from the London Hospital, "but I don’t remember coming down. When I finally came round, all I could see were my ankles twisted and mangled with blood spurting out. Suddenly the pain became unbearable. I remember looking up and being aware of seeing my mum’s face and hearing a few neighbour’s voices. There were police cars everywhere with sirens flashing and I was vaguely aware of a helicopter hovering. It was the Air Ambulance from the London Hospital. They erected a tent in the street and tried to patch me together in preparation for the short flight." |
DaC Dispatcher Richard |
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 Richard smiling for the first time since his accident
Richard went on: "They flew me to the London Hospital where
there were seven doctors waiting. They examined me briefly on the way to the
operating theatre and I was made aware that they might have to amputate one or
even both feet. I believe that it was the speed and quick attention of the Air
Ambulance and its crew that saved my feet. The medics were also surprised that
my ribs and back weren’t broken!" |
in plaster! "At least I knew then that I still had my legs.
The thought of losing them was just horrifying," said Richard. After being transferred to Homerton, Richard went into a ward that had several amputees in. "It was so heartbreaking to see these people who had lost their limbs. Perhaps it was coming so close to losing my own that made me cry when I first saw them." Richard had two metal pins inserted into his ankles and is undergoing skin grafts from his thigh to recover his ankles. He will have been in for around four weeks by the time he’s discharged. That will then be followed by up to two months in a wheelchair with a period on crutches after. It is possible that he will always have a limp… "If you ask me whether I’d rather limp or have no feet, well that’s the easiest choice anyone could have. When I look around me in the ward at some of these other guys who have lost legs or arms, then I guess I’m pretty lucky." |
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