A cyclist who broke his leg and had to be rescued by air ambulance near Brimham Rocks will have his story told on TV tonight.
Algy Kazlauciunas was cycling on Warsill Road on September 4 last year when his wheel skidded on oil left by a truck.
He crashed and landed on a grass verge, where he was alone and unable to move.
Fortunately two cyclists, who were not far behind, stopped to help.
They were struggling to work out the exact location for the emergency services but one had the What3Words app on his phone.
So when Peter Jackson, one of the cyclists, called 999 he quoted the What3Words reference ‘Inflation, Surfer, Inner’, which led Yorkshire Air Ambulance straight to the crash.
Algy Kazlauciunas, who hopes to get back on his bike when the weather improves, said:
“It was one of the most unfortunate things that has happened in my life. An old truck had disposed of oil on the road and I hit the oil and that was it, I had no chance.
“I immediately realised that I couldn’t move and that no-one was there to help me.
“I remember the helicopter arriving and landing in the field and I wasn’t on the ground for too long before they took me to hospital.
“I was impressed by the people who stopped and were so helpful with everything. It was a real joy in terms of humanity.”
Read more:
- Number of covid patients at Harrogate hospital falls to six
- Lights to mark Battle of Boroughbridge 700th anniversary too modern
The air ambulance took Mr Kazlauciunas, who is from Leeds, to Harrogate District Hospital where tests revealed he had a broken femur.
He endured a long operation to pin his leg back together and have a rod inserted, and spent four days in the hospital recuperating.
The reality TV series Helicopter ER will feature the story on Channel Really at 10pm tonight. It can be viewed on Freeview on channel 17.
Matt Syrat, clinical operations manager for Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said:
“There are a lot of rural areas and less identifiable roads in Yorkshire and if a person cannot distinguish where they are, it can delay the time it takes for emergency services to reach the incident.
“What3Words enables us to pinpoint a nearly exact location of the casualty using the three words given to us by the call taker and we can dispatch immediately.
“The What3Words app is invaluable to saving lives, especially in remote areas of Yorkshire.”
