For Jenni Cross, an ordinary day at home quickly turned into a life-changing emergency, when a routine dog walk escalated into a serious incident requiring urgent specialist care.

Jenni, 66, lives on a 15-acre smallholding in Colwall, Herefordshire, where she works as a dog walker. On the day of the incident, she was out in her fields outside her home walking dogs when a fight broke out amongst them. Jenni stepped in to try and break it up.

 

In the process she sustained multiple serious injuries, including deep bites to her hands, legs and face. Her left hand was badly lacerated to the bone, while her face suffered extensive trauma. Most critically, she lost vision in her right eye due to a blood clot forming behind it.

 

With the severity of her injuries clear, a Midlands Air Ambulance Charity helicopter was dispatched from Strensham. The crew quickly arrived to provide advanced, specialist care at the scene.

 

In a remarkable intervention, Dr Oliver Bevan, a PHEMS fellowship doctor with Midlands Air Ambulance Charity performed a sight-saving procedure called a lateral canthotomy on Jenni’s eye at the scene. Critical care paramedic Kerry Hemus was also part of the team delivering the vital care in those crucial moments.

 

Oliver said: “Jenni had extensive facial injuries, which meant her eye was swollen shut, and she couldn’t tolerate us trying to pry the eye lids open to see the damage to the eye underneath. We moved Jenni to the helicopter and as a team performed a procedural sedation, using ketamine. Once we could fully examine the eye, it was clinically apparent that there was a dangerous build-up of pressure that needed releasing in this case. We were still 30-40 minutes from being in the Emergency Department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital which given the time from the initial injury carried an extremely high risk of permanent visual loss.  We therefore carried out the procedure on the aircraft almost immediately after clinical diagnosis.

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Jenni was then airlifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where her treatment continued. Her facial injuries were treated in the emergency department, her hand required surgery the following day and she underwent multiple scans and tests, including CT imaging. Jenni remained in hospital for 11 days, supported by daily visits from family and friends.

Before the incident, Jenni led a highly independent life, running her smallholding alongside her son and his partner. But her recovery brought significant challenges.

 

She explains: “After the accident I had to rely on my son and his partner to do most of the work, as well as take care of my shopping as I wasn’t able to drive, which I found very tough because I’m a very self-reliant person.”

 

Jenni continues to deal with long-term effects from her injuries. She is currently awaiting further surgery to correct double vision caused by damage to her eye and surrounding structures, with ongoing investigations into fractures and bone displacement.

 

Despite this, she remains profoundly grateful for the care she received – particularly the rapid response and expertise delivered at the scene.

 

Jenni adds: “I am so grateful for the outstanding treatment I received that day. They are earth angels. I don’t have the words to adequately express my gratitude to each and every person involved in the charity because they all played a part in saving my sight.

 

“It was so incredible that Dr Oliver happened to be on shift that day – a doctor that trains others in the operation that he performed on me, quite literally in the field. He saved my sight.

 

“If Midlands Air Ambulance Charity had not existed, I would be blind in my right eye. I can’t ever thank the team enough.”

 

Jenni was not aware that Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is entirely funded by donations before her incident. She is now training to run a half marathon to raise funds for the charity. Her experience stands as a powerful reminder of the life-changing impact the service provides – delivering hospital-level care at the scene, when every second matters.