ROMA, QUEENSLAND: A complex roadside medical procedure, a helicopter’s rapid response, slick first responder teamwork and a positive attitude saved Billy Reeves.
Watch Billy’s full story here.
And all these elements combined to give Billy’s partner Dannielle Beilby something to hold onto — hope.
The Griffin father-of-two sustained a catastrophic Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) when he was driving down a hill and rolled a water truck in western Queensland landing on the driver’s side in February last year.
Dannielle was cooking their daughter’s dinner, when she got the police phone call nobody wants to get. Her 46-year-old partner was critically injured.
Within 15 minutes of the crash, a Roma SGAS helicopter landed on the remote Queensland road in Taroom bringing the hospital to the highway.
Billy was 100 metres from where the chopper landed, was unconscious and barely breathing.
LifeFlight aircrew officer Nick McKee said a combined effort from every other Queensland emergency service meant Billy was already out of the truck which saved the aeromedical team precious minutes.
“I opened the door and there was a sea of people there already,” Nick said. “They’d done a really good job before we landed.”
A critical care doctor and flight paramedic finalised their rapid, specialised treatment plan as they stepped out of the AW139 helicopter.
LifeFlight Flight Paramedic Andrew Meakin said the outback mission included a complex roadside procedure he helped perform minutes after landing in scorching 34-degree heat.
“We needed to intubate him and sedate him to control his breathing,” Andrew said.
“And that’s very important for someone who has had a head injury because we can then modulate how much swelling he has inside his head.”
At the same time, the chopper’s pilot and aircrew officer were organising logistics to ensure Billy had the quickest possible flight to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital where brain surgeons would remove part of his skull to stop his brain bleed and keep him alive.
Billy spent 150 days recovering in hospital including seven weeks in an acute ward and 100 days in the Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS) brain rehabilitation unit, where he had to completely relearn how to walk, talk, swallow, and eat.
His positive attitude and determination were key in his inspiring recovery.
He says he’s thankful to be alive, and back home with his family.
Billy’s partner Dannielle says without LifeFlight, she’s confident the father of her children wouldn’t be alive.
“We had to just hope that he would come back to us,” Dannielle said.
“Not really knowing what was going to happen was extremely scary. We just sat and held his hand.
“LifeFlight saved Billy. Had they not acted so quickly and efficiently, he wouldn’t be here. They brought home a partner, a dad, a son and a brother.”
His rescue team welcomed Billy and his family to the LifeFlight’s Archerfield maintenance base where they enjoyed a staff barbeque with the engineering team who keep the fleet in top form.
“It was fantastic,” Billy said.
“It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done.
“Just meeting them – I’m feeling grateful. Feeling so grateful.
“I’m forever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever thankful and grateful for every person involved.”
Nick said being a LifeFlight aircrew officer was a lifelong dream and it was a privilege and honour to be there for Billy.
“Absolutely mind-blowing to see him up and about walking around looking fit and healthy and strong,” Nick said.
“Really cool to see. It’s a rare treat to meet with a patient who was critically unwell.
“It’s an absolute privilege to be there for somebody who needs us, and not just for the individual patient, it’s for the family as well.”
“It’s a job we train very hard for, and we work hard to do what we do.”
Andrew said to see Billy come full circle in his recovery made him proud to be a LifeFlight paramedic.
“It’s definitely the best job that I could ever think of,” Andrew said.
“I’ve been a paramedic for 20 years and the team I get to work with is excellent, the equipment we get access to is amazing, the medicine that we get to deliver is world class.
“I love my job.
“Emergency medicine is a team sport and LifeFlight played an integral part in that team bringing the ICU and very experienced doctors and paramedics to Billy on the side of the road delivering him world class medicine and then flying him on to one of the best hospitals in Queensland.
“It’s exciting to see a patient that’s had a really good outcome.”
Billy described his motor vehicle accident as a death-defying moment and said he’s looking forward to enjoying an ordinary life.
“It could have been one way or the other – and I was lucky enough to survive,” Billy said.
“Without LifeFlight I would not be here. I am extremely lucky to have survived it.”
Watch Billy’s full story here.
