On the morning of Thursday 11th July 2024, 25 year old Casey Crawford from the rural village of Beragh, County Tyrone, fell ill suddenly in her home. With no previous health problems, her heart completely stopped and she was in cardiac arrest.
Casey’s partner, Johnny, woke to hearing Casey in distress, struggling to breathe and was unresponsive. Johnny immediately called for help and began performing CPR, desperately trying to keep her alive. Within minutes, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service arrived and the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) were also tasked. Casey’s family were called and they quickly realised by the number of emergency services and the presence of the air ambulance helicopter that this was very serious.
Paramedics and doctors worked quickly and skilfully, stabilising Casey as best they could. Casey was placed into an induced coma by the air ambulance team, a critical step to protect her brain and organs while her body fought to survive. Casey was then airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast in a journey time of nineteen minutes. Her family followed by car with limited details of Casey’s condition and terrified of what lay ahead.
The very next day, while still in intensive care, Casey suffered a second cardiac arrest. Once again, doctors and nurses fought to bring her back. For two weeks, she lay in the intensive care unit, her survival uncertain and condition changing day by day. But against all odds, Casey began to show signs of improvement. Slowly but surely, she defied expectations, and after weeks of uncertainty, she was strong enough to leave intensive care and then on 20th August, Casey was discharged. Each day, she is working to regain her strength, physically and mentally. Seven months after her life-changing experience, Casey continues her journey of recovery and is determined to return to work and aims to have a successful business of her own in the years to come.
Casey, Johnny and her family recently visited the Air Ambulance Northern Ireland operational base to pay their thanks to the service that were critical to saving her life. Speaking about her ordeal over the last year, Casey said,
“I always heard about the air ambulance and the amazing work it does but you never, ever expect to need it someday yourself. I am so thankful for the service, I really do believe it saved my life. My life was completely flipped upside down so quickly. Waking up to be told by my family what had happened and why I was in a hospital bed, still to this day is very hard to believe. My road to recovery is long and difficult but with the support of my amazing partner, my family and friends and all the prayers that where said (and still continue to be said) I am here to tell the story today and will continue to do so. I will always live by the statement ‘life is so short, enjoy everyday as it comes, you never know what’s around the corner.’ I now have another chance at life and I intend to enjoy it, whilst spreading the word of the lifesaving work the air ambulance provides. That’s why I believe the air ambulance & health service always need our full support, because someday you never know when you will need these services. I will never be able to put into words how lucky and thankful I am. Myself, my partner, family & friends will always continue to support the air ambulance, they are absolute heroes”.
Damien McAnespie, Fundraising Manager for Air Ambulance NI, said, “It was lovely to meet Casey and her family, she has been clearly through a lot over the last number of months. Less than 1 in 10 people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the UK and only for the efforts of Casey’s partner, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and the air ambulance HEMS team, the outcome may have been so much different. We know Casey and her family are passionate about raising awareness of the fast and vital clinical interventions that Air Ambulance NI can bring to the scene following a serious medical or trauma incident and we appreciate their support.”