RFD00550_Appeal Letter Apr 09.indd

							The Hill Family, from left: Prudence, Lillyan, Spencer, Richard, Anstey and Edie.




Impact lasts a lifetime
“A beautiful young woman with a baby on the                                         However, I am thankful every day that our
 way, mourns the tragic death of her partner.”                                      frightening story has a fairytale ending,
 With shivers down my spine, I think of how                                         thanks to my life-saving evacuation by the
 close this came to being yesterday’s headline.                                     Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).

Richard Hill continues his couragous story.


My wife Edie and I knew of the RFDS and the incredible                              Because of the complications with the pregnancy, Edie could
work they did, but we never dreamed that they would                                 no longer stay with me at Arkaroola Wilderness Santuary and
play such a key role in shaping our future.                                         moved to Adelaide to be close to medical facilities.

We were living in the Northern Flinders Ranges and I                                One afternoon I was working out on the land – it is a day I will
was working in a job that I loved, taking tourists on                               never forget. I was driving a front-end loader down a steep
4WD adventures.                                                                     hill when I lost control and in only a matter of seconds the
                                                                                    machine was upside-down in a creekbed and I was lying
When I was not taking tours, I would do other jobs – repairs                        underneath it,in shock.
and maintenance to the tourist resort, earthworks, building and
learning about the various plants and animals on this wonderful                     I couldn’t believe I was still alive! I crawled up the side of the
land. Edie was pregnant at the time with our first child. Life                      creek and sat down to assess the situation, looking over my
seemed to be an endless summer.                                                     body to see what damage was done. My leg had been severely
                                                                                    crushed and my ankle was a mess. Bits of bone were sticking
Then things changed. There were complications with the                              out of my leg, and my foot was literally flopping about.
pregnancy and Edie had to be airlifted by the RFDS, not once
but twice. Already we were so grateful for their wonderful                          I knew that I was in serious trouble but I also knew that if I was
work, they had saved our unborn child. Little did we know that                      to make it out of there I could not afford to panic. There was no
the RFDS would soon also save my life.                                              way I could stand up, so I sat up and waited.
                                                                                collapse. If the RFDS had not evacuated me, I would not be alive
                                                                                today. He said I would not have survived the ten-hour car trip – it
 “If the RFDS had not saved                                                     would have been too late.

  my life, I would not be here                                                  Over the following three weeks I had six operations to try and
                                                                                save my leg. Fighting the infection with large doses of antibiotics
  today, nor would three of                                                     wasn’t enough. The surgeon said there was probably too much
                                                                                bone and flesh missing to re-build the leg. It was decided to

  my children.”                                                                 operate and remove my leg. Though losing a leg was no small
                                                                                matter, I was simply glad to be alive.

                                                                                Edie had been up to visit me in the Flinders Ranges only days
 » It was only five minutes before someone found me, but it                     before the accident and was terrified when she received the
   seemed like hours.                                                           phone call. Over the next few months she hardly left my side and
                                                                                helped me with my recovery.
    Thankfully the tourist resort had a RFDS Medical Chest, which
    contains a range of pharmaceutical items to be used in case of              Months later our beautiful daughter Prudence arrived, and over
    emergency at the direction of a RFDS doctor over the telephone.             the next 12 years we had three more wonderful children, Lillyan,
    With advice from the RFDS, a friend used items from the chest               Spencer and Anstey. My accident happened in 1988 and without
    to bandage and splint my leg and inject me with pain killers.               the RFDS I would not have the family I do today – instead,
                                                                                I would be gone and my three other beautiful children would
    I managed to shuffle onto a stretcher and I remember hearing                never have come into this world, and a grieving woman would
    the words ‘the Flying Doctor is on its way’. I was loaded into              be left to raise her new baby alone.
    the back of a station wagon and suffered an agonising drive on
    rough roads to the airstrip.                                                My family and I cannot thank the RFDS enough. Their service
                                                                                is vital and we want to ensure they continue to be there for all
    When we arrived at the airstrip it was not long before I could              Australians. Our story is one of many that illustrates that when
    hear the noise of the engine as the aircraft approached. By this            the RFDS saves lives, the impact lasts a lifetime.
    time I was feeling cold and tired. The RFDS doctor removed the
    bandage to assess my leg. When he saw the extent of the injury              Please give generously. Every RFDS patient will be forever grateful
    he quickly re-applied the bandages and decided we needed to                 – and so will their families. We are!
    move urgently.

    Within minutes we were airborne and on our way to Adelaide.
    I remember lying in the aircraft wondering why they had the
    air-conditioning up so high, I was very cold. I did not know it
    was because I had lost so much blood and mid-air, the doctor
    had conducted two blood transfusions to keep me alive.

    When we landed I was immediately transferred into an
    ambulance. I was amazed at how soon after the accident I
    was in the emergency department of the Royal Adelaide
    Hospital (RAH).

    The surgeon told me that by the time I arrived at the RAH, I had
    lost so much blood that I was in severe danger of circulatory               Richard Hill working at Arkaroola in 1988.




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