A Wallington man’s routine jog turned into a life-or-death emergency after he was hurt by a car that lost control and mounted the pavement

On January 1, 2021, Steve Blake had been jogging up the road – wearing bright clothes and sticking to the pavement – when a car lost control, mounted the pavement and hit him from behind at speed.

Steve was left critically unwell on the road.

London’s Air Ambulance was immediately dispatched and on arrival suspected that he had life-threatening injuries.

Steve said: “When you realise the depth of the treatment and the skills they bring to the scene – it’s astonishing.”

Steve had, among many injuries, a life-threatening pelvic fracture from which he was bleeding internally, collapsed lungs and a badly broken leg.

The team started a blood transfusion for Steve, took over his breathing by inducing him into a coma and decompressed his chest to reinflate his collapsed lungs.

On the roadside, Steve also underwent a high-risk procedure, REBOA, to give him the best chance of getting to hospital.

This is a procedure that can help stop patients from bleeding to death and involves passing a catheter through to the main artery in the body and inflating a balloon to stop blood flow to the pelvis.

Steve’s wife, Clare, said: “It blows my mind what the team were able to do, there on the roadside on a freezing cold New Year’s Day.

“We’re so lucky London’s Air Ambulance got here in the time that they did.

“Any longer and Steve would not have made it.”

This year, Omaze, a company that runs prize draws to raise money for charities, has chosen London’s Air Ambulance Charity for its latest fundraising campaign.

Steve added: “We’re so excited that this year London’s Air Ambulance Charity has been chosen by Omaze.

“It will make a huge difference to the service and therefore a huge difference to Londoners.”

Now, over three years later, after a lot of hard work and recovery, Clare and Steve are back home together with their children.

Clare is a frequent volunteer for London’s Air Ambulance Charity and both remain grateful to the service.

Clare said: “The reality is that something like this can happen to anyone at any time. But when it did happen to my family, thank goodness London’s Air Ambulance was there.

“I hope London helps support Omaze with this campaign and ensures the service will be there for the next family that needs it.”