UPDATED WITH ‘THANK YOU’ MESSAGE: A woman has been airlifted from a field in Shanklin after injuring herself whilst sledging in the snow.
The Isle of Wight Ambulance Service requested the assistance of Coastguard Rescue helicopter 175 at around 15:30 due to the remote location of the casualty, close to Victoria Avenue.
Island Echo understands the incident occurred much earlier this afternoon with firefighters from Shanklin called out at 13:25.
Thanks to the assistance of The Needles Coastguard Rescue Team and Ventnor Coastguard Rescue Team, the woman has been carried to the helicopter and flown to Seaclose Park in Newport.
An ambulance is due to take the casualty the short distance to St Mary’s Hospital. The helipad at St Mary’s Hospital is currently closed due to ice.
Earlier today out of a total of 30 patients in A&E, some 23 of them had snow/ice fall-related injuries.
UPDATE SATURDAY: A message of thanks has been sent to firefighters at Shanklin for their quick response and for “saving my life”.
Mary, the casualty, said on Facebook:
“I would like to say a massive thank you for everything you all done for me yesterday! (Friday).
“I can’t praise you all enough on how quick you were to respond to my accident and thank you for saving my life, don’t want to even think of what would have happened if you weren’t there.
“It’s thanks to you all that I got to come home and I can’t thank you all enough!
“As promised I will be baking you all a cake once I’m fully recovered :).
“I am lucky to haven’t broken anything I’ve got spasmed muscles around the bottom of my spine and some serious bruising at the base of my back and hips.
“The hospital has given me plenty of painkillers and told me to rest.
“We would all love to come and say thank you to the team soon.”
A spokesperson for the Friends of Shanklin Fire Station Facebook page said:
“Mary, we are all so pleased your ok, safe and well.
“Rest up with your lovely son and family.
“When your feeling better pop into the station, we would all love to see you all again.”
