Aircrew who operate from Perthshire have been nominated for a top heroes award after saving the life of a teenage boy who got into difficulties while swimming in the River Tay.
The youth had disappeared beneath the water for around six minutes and his breathing had stopped when paramedics came to his rescue on July 26 last year on Murthly Island.
Members of Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) flew to the scene of the emergency in less than five minutes from their base at Perth Airport.
From the air, senior pilot Russell Myles and air paramedics Andy Walker and Robin Jeffrey saw the youth being dragged from the fast flowing water by a friend on to a long strip of land forming a small island in the Tay.
The time-critical emergency saw the pilot decide to land on the gravel island next to the young man, allowing the paramedics immediate access to him.
When the paramedics examined the youth he did not have a pulse and was not breathing. A witness explained that he had been struggling in the water and had disappeared beneath the surface for five or six minutes after getting into difficulties while swimming.
The Helimed 76 paramedics were alone in providing essential medical assistance as the other emergency crews were unable to cross the river.
Following intensive work by all three of the crew, SCAA then flew the youth to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where he made positive progress.
The team are now finalists for an Emergency Services Hero Award in this year’s Our Heroes Awards being staged in Glasgow a week today.
Their nomination citation reads: “Their life-saving skills, combined with careful and rapid assessment of the priorities and remaining calm under intense pressure contributed significantly to saving the boy’s life.
“The crew, paramedics in particular, displayed a selfless approach throughout the rescue and demonstrated courage, professionalism and teamwork, also exhibiting supreme skills in bringing a positive outcome to an extreme situation.”
Russell is a senior pilot at SCAA, Andy is now SAR technical crewman under training with Bristow Helicopters and Robin serves on Helimed 5 in Glasgow.