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On a bank-holiday Monday, Anne and I had just got back from our first walk around our new neighbourhood with our new baby, when a helicopter buzzed our street and landed on the big field just across the road.
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| The crews prepare to transfer the patient. |
I grabbed my camera and ran out to get some shots. There had been an accident on a cliff, and someone had to be rushed to hospital on the coast-guard helicopter.
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| Slowly and carefully, the patient is transferred from the stretcher to the gurney. |
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After the patient had been loaded into the ambulance, the helicopter just sat there. I asked and found out that as this was not the local coast-guard, they were waiting for the patient to be handed over and some of the crew to come back from the hospital before setting off again.
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| The Sea King waits for the crew to return. |
I popped home to check on Anne and Harriet, who were doing fine, changed Noah's nappy, then ran back to the field to witness the take-off. I needn't have hurried. I chatted with the coast-guard volunteer, who had driven from the beach to clear the field prior to the helicopter landing. Interestingly enough, the landing spot is a local cricket pitch, and it's not unusual for cricket matches to be interrupted, though usually the helicopter is straight in and straight out again.
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| Hold onto your hats, we're taking off! |
About an hour after it landed, the crew returned. The small crowd of gawkers drew back, the rotors started spinning, the lights started flashing, and ever so slowly the helicopter took to the air. It was surreal to see something the size of a small house slowly lift off the ground. I expected a hurricane of air, but was only hit by a gentle breeze.
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| If it had been an hour earlier, it would have been off into the sunset. |
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It was certainly an exciting afternoon, though chatting with my neighbours, I found out that it happens all the time as this is the landing site for Southampton's main hospital. I'm sure I'll be bored with it soon enough.
Oh, and I heard the cliff victim was going to be OK.