The simple domestic chore of sweeping outside her house, resulted in Gillian Schwass being swept up into the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter and rushed to hospital.
“I was sweeping the concrete out at the back door,” began Gillian, “and somehow the broom managed to swipe my feet in the process.”
Gillian must have been sweeping with gusto because when the broom made contact with her feet, she fell over and was knocked out cold on the concrete. It was there that her daughter Fiona found her with her dog, Milo, who hadn’t left her side.
“She was just leaning up against the wall,” said Fiona. “She wasn’t responding and had a big head wound”.
A short time later, an ambulance arrived and medics made the decision that the helicopter was the speediest and best form of transport. Gillian was moved by the ambulance crew down to the hay barn on the Schwass farm, to meet the rescue helicopter waiting in the paddock. Pilot, Nat Every had his patient at Rotorua Hospital in 15 minutes.
“THE HELICOPTER CREW WERE SO GOOD TO ME – THEY REALLY WERE,” SHE SAID. “I CAN’T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THE HELP THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME.”
It has been a long time healing for Gillian who spent a week in hospital and still has some delayed concussion and bruising sustained from the knock to her head, but it hasn’t affected her sense of humour.
“I had a huge haematoma; I looked dreadful, and then my horrible granddaughter put me on Facebook. I could have died!”, she laughed good-naturedly.