A Fife woman whose life was saved after she cheated the volcanic ash cloud to take to the air is back on home turf.
Jacqueline Oliver suffered a potentially-fatal ruptured aneurysm two months ago as a cloud from the Icelandic volcano eruption spread across the North Atlantic, leaving thousands of travellers stranded.
With her life hanging in the balance, the 46-year-old mother-of-two became one of only a few air passengers on April 14 when she was flown in a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter from HMS Gannet at Prestwick to University College Hospital London.
Back home in Cupar after making a remarkable recovery, Jacqueline said she would have died without the air ambulance.
“It’s amazing to think that a volcano in Iceland could have had such an affect.
“I can’t remember anything and was totally amazed when people told me the story about what had happened.
“It makes me realise how lucky I am to be alive.”
Jacqueline had a highly complex aortic aneurysm, which occurs when the main vessel that supplies blood to the rest of the body becomes dangerously large.
When her condition became critical in the early hours of the morning, she was rushed by ambulance to Prestwick then transferred to the helicopter.
Pilot and duty aircraft captain that morning, Lieutenant Al Hinchcliffe, said it was a race against the ash cloud as much as it was against time to save Jacqueline’s life.
The drama unfolded just before the whole of UK airspace was closed.Emerging threatLt Hinchcliffe said, “We were aware of the emerging threat posed by the volcano as well as the fact that our passenger was exceptionally ill.
“We just flew as fast as we could and hoped that we could get her there safely.
“We were basically radioing ahead to air traffic controllers to get them to clear air space for us all the way down, which is quite unusual.
“I’m absolutely delighted to hear that she’s safe and well and has made a good recovery.”
When the helicopter landed in Regent’s Park, Jacqueline was taken by ambulance to University College Hospital, then to nearby Heart Hospital for specialist cardiac care.
Consultant cardiac surgeon John Yap said Jacqueline was dying when she arrived.
He said, “If she hadn’t been able to fly here, she would not have survived.
“The ash cloud could have killed her. Being able to fly into a centre, which is a world leader in treating this particular condition, saved her life.”
To repair the rupture a team led by Dr Yap stopped Jacqueline’s circulation completely-a technique known as circulatory arrest for 19 minutes.