A grateful and brave little girl has thanked her LifeFlight and Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) rescue crew.
Felicity Kennedy was having the time of her life on an epic 120-metre long, man-made, slip-n-slide when she had an accident and needed a LifeFlight helicopter.
She and her family were celebrating 2025 Australia Day with other families in a cow paddock at Christmas Creek in the Scenic Rim.
The Rathdowney 11-year-old had slid down the hill dozens of times without incident, jumping off the rubber tube and running up the hill again for another go.
Felicity was on the tube with five others when her leg got tangled at the bottom of the slide and her femur bone snapped in half.
The family called Triple Zero (000) and a LifeFlight rescue helicopter was tasked alongside local Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) paramedics including Mick Mahoney.
“When I was getting out of the water, I tried to walk and I couldn’t,” Felicity said.
“A friend carried me out and then we saw my leg. It was bent like a banana.”
Her mother Katie Kennedy said her now 12-year-old daughter was a 90-minute drive from Queensland Children’s Hospital and screaming in pain.
“She was having an unreal day beforehand,” Katie said.
“She was smiling and laughing. You couldn’t stop her. It happened. That’s just the way things are.”
The LifeFlight rescue crew was able to land the chopper close to the incident in a paddock.
QAS paramedics and the LifeFlight critical care doctor treated Felicity and administered pain relief.
“Her pain was unbelievable,” Katie said. “She was drifting in and out of consciousness.
“It means everything to have a service like LifeFlight available. It would have been a very uncomfortable, bumpy ride without the trip in the chopper.”
Felicity’s Brisbane-based LifeFlight pilot Tyson Pearce has been with the aeromedical company for close to a decade and said Christmas school holidays was traditionally a busy time for rescues.
LifeFlight responds to a 21 per cent increase in primary missions during the Christmas break.
“The summer holidays from November to January are LifeFlight’s busiest time of year. During the Christmas holidays, we get really busy,” he said.
LifeFlight crews spend time away from their own families during the holidays to be there for Queenslanders who need the very best aeromedical care.
“We find that we are tasked with more accident missions around Christmas. We fly to scenes like Felicity’s where people have injured themselves,” said Tyson.
“It’s always rewarding saving people, we all feel proud of doing our job and helping our communities during the Christmas holidays is special.
He said spotting Felicity’s accident scene wasn’t difficult.
“As soon as we saw the area we were so impressed with the scale of the waterslide,” Tyson said.
“As we were flying off, I couldn’t help myself, I had to take a few photos because the slide was so awesome. I love seeing people enjoying themselves. We hope Queenslanders don’t stop having adventures.
“It’s always good to know that LifeFlight is available if something goes wrong.”
Felicity will have an operation at the end of November to remove the steel rod from her leg.
She’s looking forward to being back to her normal self and continuing horse-riding competitions.
To support LifeFlight crews during this busy holiday season, donate to the LifeFlight Christmas Appeal HERE.
