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Can you imagine the weight of 18 tonnes of truck and 20 tonnes of excavator?
To put this immense amount into perspective, the combined weight of the machinery is equivalent to about 22 cars. Picturing this number, however, was likely far from Sean Rickards' mind as he found himself crushed between the two pieces of equipment.
“I was broken within a millimetre of my life,” he said afterwards.
In medical terms, Rickards' extensive injuries consisted of broken ribs, shattered thoracic vertebrae, collapsed lungs, and other severe crush injuries.
If the accident had happened in a region beyond the support of a STARS helicopter, Rickards probably wouldn’t have survived, but because of the charity boosted by the communities that rally behind it, he is alive and well today.
A lifesaving system
With its helicopters equipped with state-of-the-art medical supplies and devices, STARS uses an elaborate network of pilots, nurses, and paramedics to reach people in need of immediate medical care.
Although STARS helicopters are fitted with all the equipment needed to save lives, the spirit of each mission always lies in the exceptional crews that tackle them.
On April 1st and 2nd, the Critical Care on the Air Radiothon in support of STARS will raise funds to continue to allow STARS teams to do what they do best.
In Rickards' case, the team was faced with tending to a crushed body and battling raging weather — a perfect storm of challenges to save the life of someone on the verge of losing it.
Four hours away from life in poor weather conditions
The day of Rickards' accident began just as any other. As an autumn storm approached, he and his workmate hurried to backfill a countryside dugout with a backhoe and a semi-truck.
“I had no idea that I was going to meet STARS that day,” he said.
During the routine work, a miscue wedged him between the two colossal machines. Emergency responders whisked him to a nearby emergency room, but the care there wasn’t enough.
“I was told by the doctors that his right side was completely crushed,” said Mindy Rickards, Sean’s wife.
Given the extent of Rickards’ injuries, the next step was to call STARS. He needed trauma care in the city, almost four hours away by road, and the clock was ticking.
STARS pilots Darryl Dash and David Harding answered the call.
"This mission was going to be tough both on the aviation side and the medical side."
-STARS pilot Darryl Dash on Sean Rickard's mission, one of many supported by the Critical Care on the Air Radiothon.
After waiting for the storm to abate momentarily, they accepted the mission. Dash and Harding would have the challenge of transporting Rickards about 280 kilometres through the air against a headwind.
“This mission was going to be tough both on the aviation side and the medical side,” said Dash.
Cardiac arrest at a crucial moment
Almost two hours later, after a fuel stop, they finally arrived at the city for trauma care, but the mission was still far from over.
Rickards went into cardiac arrest as the helicopter descended. The local team raced to resuscitate him and, together with the STARS crew, stabilized him for the 70-minute tailwind return flight, which also proved troublesome.
“The trip back was busy,” said STARS flight nurse Jennifer Fosty. “We were constantly trying to manage both his blood pressure and his oxygen levels with our ventilator, along with blood and many other medications to help keep his blood pressure up.”
The weather continued to add a further obstacle to the flight, but fortunately, the STARS pilots were able to navigate it, and before long, Rickards was brought to the specialists he desperately needed.
“The team that works here — everybody's super passionate. They love this job. They're here for the right reasons.”
-STARS paramedic Ray Rempel, whose work is made possible by community support.
Fast forward three weeks and Rickards miraculously took his first steps into his new life (complete with two titanium ribs, a chest plate, and five vertebrae fused together) thanks to STARS.
The tragedy that inspired a lifesaving resource
STARS is who many rural community members turn to when there is no one to turn to.
The charity was established in 1985 by Dr. Greg Powell, a physician moved to action by a heartbreaking loss. Dr. Powell had a patient who passed away after birth complications.
The young mother didn’t survive due to the time it took for her to be transported to the hospital by ground ambulance.
Four decades after the tragedy of her death and the establishment of STARS, the charity still operates on the belief that no matter who you are — or where you are — everyone should have access to emergency healthcare in the most harrowing moments.
Since STARS’ inception, it has flown over 60,000 missions, and there has been no such thing as an easy one.
Today, Rickards is one of STARS’ VIPs — a Very Important Patient who stands as a symbol of the life-saving power of the organization, but his accident could have turned out very differently without the service.
‘I remember them talking about this specific mission’
Several months after Rickards left the hospital, he returned to the STARS team. This time, instead of navigating inclement weather and fighting for his life, he brought thanks.
His moving message to the crew was that they “brought [him] back from everything being gone.”
One of the STARS team members who met with Rickards was Blake Robert of STARS public relations. Although Robert had not been a part of this particular mission, he had heard about it.
Most of the STARS team had.
“Because we're embedded with our crews, we sometimes hear about missions if they come back from a really tough or a challenging call,” he said. “I remember them talking about this specific mission.”
Robert’s meeting with Rickards came as a surprise to him. He said that a few months after hearing about the incredible events, he received a message that there was a visitor at his base.
“I realized that this was this guy [from] that challenging call. Our crews weren't even sure what the outcome was going to be once they got him to [the hospital].”
For Robert, it was an astounding moment to see Rickards walk under his own power — it shouldn’t have been possible due to the extent of his injuries.
Becoming a part of miraculous recoveries
Despite the work that tests limits almost daily, for the STARS team, the risk and intensity is worth it to see a patient walk through the door.
“That's probably one of the most rewarding days for anybody who works here,” said Ray Rempel, who has spent nearly half of his 30-year paramedic career with STARS.
“The team that works here — everybody's super passionate. They love this job. They're here for the right reasons.”
Although each member of the STARS team does their part to save lives, they can’t do it alone. STARS is an organization with a community-funded model, so local donors have been a part of each miraculous recovery.
For Rempel, the upcoming Critical Care on the Air Radiothon in support of STARS on April 1st and 2nd is one of the ways the community can continue to be a part of the charity's work.
“Our donor support is absolutely what makes us special as a program,” he said. “We can't go the extra mile and do the extra things that we want to do without our donor support.”
Click here to donate to STARS ahead of the radiothon and help someone on the day they need it most.