'They saved my mam’s life' - son thanks Great North Air Ambulance crew after mum, 72, hurt in Sunderland bus incident

Steve Powell, 47, was at home in December 2019 when he received the news that his mum, Arlene Powell, 72, had been involved in a serious collision with a bus and had been airlifted by the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).

She was placed in an induced coma after suffering multiple injuries and spent Christmas and New Year in hospital until she was well enough to return home at the end of January.

“My mam is 72-years-old and she’s only a tiny petite woman,” said Mr Powell, also from Sunderland.

“The night before her accident she had seen an advert on the television for half-price baubles in Sainsbury’s so the next day she got on the bus and made her way there.”

Mrs Powell was heading to Sainsbury’s, in Silksworth Lane, when she was involved in the collision.

Mr Powell said: “It really was harrowing and the events of the day will stay in my mind forever.

“I knew something was up straight away as I tried to ring my mam three times and she didn’t answer which really isn’t like her.”

A few days prior, Mr Powell had attended a doctor’s appointment and was awaiting test results.

He said: “When my phone rang from an unknown caller, I thought it was the doctors calling with bad news, so I ignored it.

“Then a call came through from my mam’s phone.”

But Mrs Powell was not on the line. Instead it was a police officer with the news she had been badly injured.

Mr Powell said: “When I answered the call, I immediately said ‘where the hell have you been, mother?’

"But it was a man’s voice on the line – a police officer – who told me she had been in an accident and had been airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI), in Newcastle.

“I dropped the phone and ran to meet the police.”

When Mr Powell arrived at the RVI, the hospital told him she had suffered severe brain trauma.

Mr Powell said: “She was placed in an induced coma and when she woke up, she had no idea about what had happened. The entire time she was in the coma I really thought she was going to die.”

In addition to her head injuries, Mrs Powell suffered 28 cracked ribs. She also had a broken pelvis, an open leg fracture, a fractured shoulder blade and three fractured vertebrae.

On 31 January, however, she finally returned home from the hospital.

Mr Powell said: “It was the same day as my daughter’s birthday. It was like a miracle. We were all so emotional. I still get very emotional talking about it now. I really can’t thank GNAAS enough.

“They saved my mam’s life and I will be forever grateful to them for that.”

GNAAS is continuing to fly through the Covid-19 crisis but has asked the public to continue its support in the face of the collapse of the charity’s community fundraising activities.

Visit www.gnaas.com or call (01325) 487263.

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