24 Hours in A&E

This episode explores notions of luck and chance, when a young man is involved in a high-speed car crash and an 18 year old breaks his leg whilst playing football. 29 year old David is airlifted to St George’s following a head-on collision at speed. He is taken immediately to CT as doctors are concerned he has internal injuries to his head, chest and pelvis. “Head-on collisions can be life threatening,” explains consultant Will. “All the energy is transferred between the two vehicles as they hit each other. For patients to walk away from a high speed head on collision is relatively rare.” During the CT scan, David’s girlfriend Emily talks about her mounting anxiety as the hours passed with no news as his phone was ringing unanswered. She then reflects on how they first met at a dinner party. “He had a way about him that made me think I want to sit next to him for dinner. So I did… I just moved.” Waiting for the scan results, David finally gets a phone charger and manages to speak to Emily. “I naively thought that hearing his voice would be the reassurance I was looking for,” she says. “But he just gave me a whole new wave of unanswered questions.” With thoughts of serious internal injuries flashing through her mind, Emily drives two long hours to the hospital and is finally reunited with David. But she is shocked at what she finds… 18 year old Darnell has severely broken his leg playing football. Doctors are concerned such a serious break could have long term implications. “He was hours late to come home,” explains his mum Natalie. “It was unusual that he didn’t stick to a plan that we had made. He is not the type of child to let me down especially at the last minute, and I needed him to look after this brother.“ Whilst Darnell has his lower limbs X-rayed, Natalie talks about how she was only sixteen when she found out she was pregnant but she was over the moon with the news. “There were people who said you shouldn’t have a child, you’re only sixteen,” she confesses, “but they just didn’t know what I could cope with.” She continues to talk about being so proud of Darnell and about him being a big support for her as a single mum. “He is officially a man but he’s always my little boy. Always. I don’t know what I would do without him.” And 94 year old great grandmother Mary has fallen backwards down 14 steps and lost consciousness. Doctors are worried about injuries to her chest neck and spine due to her advanced age. Mary’s daughter Jenny and her husband followed Mary to the hospital and describe the shock of hearing her crash down the stairs. “I thought she was dead.” As Mary awaits the result of her scan, Jenny talks about her mother having strong opinions about life, being fiercely independent and hating the prospect of losing that independence. As Mary herself explains: “Inside me there is this 30, 40 year old. I just don’t want to go into a home. I lived in one for a week, I didn’t like it. Too many old people there!”