Steve's Story

Steve thought he had a simple ear infection – albeit an increasingly painful one. But when he passed out through agonising pain and deteriorated rapidly with what proved to be Bacterial Meningitis, it became a race against time to get him to hospital.

And in a remote and rural part of Scotland – with the quickest emergency response being helicopter – Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) was to prove a lifeline for the former commando.

Steve explained. “The morning I passed out, I was scrabbling through the medicine cabinet trying desperately to find something that would give me relief as my head felt ready to explode.”

His wife and a close neighbour and friend tended to the barely conscious Steve and a 999 call brought a locally-based paramedic racing to the scene. Calls to doctor support confirmed suspicions of meningitis, recognising that Steve was failing fast.

Completing a mission several miles away, SCAA was able to fly to Steve’s aid in minutes and paramedics worked rapidly to treat and prepare him for the flight to hospital.

Steve’s wife Lynne followed by car to hospital and admits it was “the longest journey ever.  I was terrified he would be gone when I got there,” she said. “I was so worried I would lose him.”

Four days later Steve regained consciousness in ICU and was horrified to learn of how critically ill he had been. And doctors told him there were no guarantees he would have pulled through if SCAA hadn’t got him to hospital so quickly.

“To wake up to that information was really scary – and really sobering,” said Steve, who runs an outdoor activity company. “I’m reasonably fit – how could this happen to me?  “I thought I just had an ear infection – I could never have guessed it would be a touch-and-go race against the clock. And I don’t believe I would be here today without SCAA. It makes you realise how crucial an air ambulance is for remote areas. They saved me when time was running out and I will spend the rest of my life thanking SCAA.”