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00:00 (soft music)
00:02 It's the age old thing of homes just around the corner.
00:13 I was four Ks from my front gate.
00:17 Fatigue was definitely the biggest part of my accident.
00:20 I knew I was tired.
00:21 I was preparing myself to pull over and have a sleep.
00:23 I just wanted to get to a safe spot on the road.
00:25 Unfortunately, the sleep had come before.
00:27 I was ready for it and you come off the side of the road
00:29 and throughout the road, my arm was amputated.
00:32 I don't remember the exact point that the arm was removed.
00:35 I don't remember how I got out of the car.
00:37 It's only a bit I really don't remember.
00:38 Called triple zero and I was on the phone to them
00:40 for probably a minute or two.
00:42 Yeah, you look at your shoulder
00:44 and all you see is bare flesh.
00:46 It's pretty confronting.
00:47 So you sort of just go into a fight or flight
00:49 and did what I had to do.
00:52 (somber music)
00:55 Brandon's arm was amputated
01:11 through the motor vehicle accident that he had.
01:14 So for the clinicians on scene and our medical team,
01:17 obviously the main priorities were
01:20 arresting any sort of hemorrhage
01:21 that he would have had from the site of his injury.
01:25 We carry a lot of equipment on the aircraft
01:27 that enables us to implement treatment
01:30 that patients would normally receive
01:31 in an intensive care unit.
01:32 We were able to implement what we call an MTP
01:37 or a massive transfusion protocol.
01:39 And there were more blood products brought to Mudgie Airport
01:44 and met the helicopter, the medical team and Brandon
01:48 to enable us to give him more blood products
01:50 on the way to the Sydney Major Trauma Centre.
01:53 I know that they were planning to land the helicopter
01:54 where I was originally, sort of just around the corner,
01:57 but their plans changed.
01:59 So I ended up getting the ambulance
02:00 from the accident site to the airport
02:03 where I was then put into the helicopter
02:06 and taken off to Westmead, down in Sydney.
02:08 And I was there for three weeks to the day,
02:10 which was pretty good considering they told me
02:12 I'd be there for 10.
02:13 The helicopter was critical in Brandon's case
02:16 for two reasons.
02:17 One, getting the medical team to him as soon as possible
02:20 to take over care from the local ambulance crew,
02:23 where they could then implement
02:25 more advanced medical treatment for Brandon.
02:28 But then also to be able to get him from the scene
02:31 to the Major Trauma Centre
02:32 in the least amount of time as possible
02:34 to then be able to hand his care over to the surgeons
02:37 and the trauma team.
02:38 Absolutely vital in this case.
02:39 - We have straight into Westmead, straight into surgery,
02:42 they put a suction bag on my shoulder
02:45 to try and draw all the dirt and contaminants
02:48 to try and inhibit the infections
02:51 and all that I was facing at that point.
02:53 I think I had a total of five surgeries all up
02:56 over the course of the couple of weeks.
02:57 They put a rod through my femur
02:59 to stop my pelvis from jamming up
03:01 'cause I actually completely fractured
03:03 my right side pelvis.
03:04 I knew my life had changed.
03:05 It's hard to go from living for 22 years with two arms
03:08 to living with one,
03:09 but you play with the cards you dealt and move on.
03:12 So I just knuckled down,
03:15 got into doing what I needed to do to get out of hospital.
03:18 I just wanted to get on and move on with life.
03:23 It was career altering, life altering.
03:25 There was no point sitting inside and dwelling on that.
03:29 I was only gonna go into a spiral
03:30 if I continued down that path.
03:32 So I just did everything I could to try and
03:34 yeah, speed that process up.
03:37 It's changed how me and my wife navigate life, I guess.
03:41 It's made a different spin on what we can and can't do,
03:44 but we still enjoy it and live life to what we can
03:47 and yeah, keep moving forward.
03:48 She was there, she was always the rock.
03:51 And when I was having bad days,
03:52 she was one that got the front of it
03:54 and she stuck by me.
03:55 We were only engaged.
03:56 When I had the accident,
03:57 she could have run for the hills.
03:59 At that point, life was probably gonna get pretty hard
04:00 for a while.
04:01 I'll wait probably on the other side of it now.
04:04 She was definitely the rock that held me together
04:06 and got me through a lot of it.
04:10 Life for me these days is just trying to stay busy,
04:13 keep up to the fences and stuff on the farm
04:15 and enjoying the property that we do own
04:17 and building stuff for the farm
04:19 or building stuff to make my life a bit easier.
04:22 You're always playing with someone's life
04:25 when you're behind the wheel.
04:27 I'm very lucky that I was the only one involved.
04:30 There was no one on the road.
04:30 So while you're on the road
04:32 and driving under the effects of fatigue,
04:34 you're putting not only your life at risk,
04:36 but someone else's.
04:37 (dramatic music)
04:40 When I hear the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service
04:43 fly overhead,
04:44 I always just think that someone's getting
04:45 the assistance they need.
04:47 It's a very vital service that we need
04:48 within the community out here
04:50 and even further out west.
04:51 I would have to say
04:52 that it's the ultimate job satisfaction
04:54 to see patients that we have treated and transported
04:57 continue living as best lives as possible.
05:01 At a time that I was in dire need of help,
05:04 they were there and I know they did everything they could
05:07 to give me the best chance at finding life
05:09 and living life to the best that I can.
05:12 (dramatic music)
05:15 (gentle music)
05:18 (gentle music)
05:20 (gentle music)
05:23 (gentle music)
05:26 (gentle music)
05:28 (gentle music)