DAY One staff, volunteers and founder Prof Peter Giannoudis will join major trauma staff in Leeds today (Wednesday 19 April) to mark 10 years of saving lives in the West Yorkshire region.
The Major Trauma Centre at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) opened in April 2013 and is now the second busiest Major Trauma Centre in the country. Over the past 10 years staff have treated more than 16,000 seriously injured patients, with a 92.5% overall survival rate.
One of those patients to be treated was Day One volunteer Henry Morris.
Henry was seriously injured in a motorbike crash in June 2018 when a car pulled out from a side road. Despite the best efforts of doctors, he had to have his left leg amputated.
While on the trauma ward, Henry was visited by Day One Peer Support Volunteer and amputee Bob Nottingham, who had suffered similar injuries in a crash in 2009.
You can read Henry’s story in full here.
Both Henry and Bob, along with Prof Giannoudis, who founded the charity with support from patients in Leeds, will join the major trauma teams to mark this significant milestone.
“It’s difficult and emotional to go back to the hospital after so many years. But I am indebted to these people who did so much. They saved my life and got me onto the road to recovery.”
“I’m proud to mark 10 years with this incredible team not only in Leeds, but wider across the Yorkshire region, in what is in many ways the NHS at its cutting edge.”
The Leeds Major Trauma Centre is one of 24 similar centres in England and is the second busiest in the country. Serving a wide geographical region from the Yorkshire Dales in the north-west to Hull in the east and Sheffield in the south, the centre manages injured adults and children brought in from across Yorkshire for emergency care. Often the major trauma team assembles with just a five-minute warning.
Speaking about the past 10 years, clinical lead of the Centre since its launch, Orthopaedic Trauma Consultant Mr Nik Kanakaris said: “Welcoming one of our patients, Henry, back to the unit today, and seeing his recovery journey, has been so rewarding for everyone in the team. It’s an immediate recognition of the work that we do.
“It’s important to recognise and thank all those who play a vital role in the major trauma network as we mark 10 years. Our survival rate is exceptional, together with a number of other key performance indicators over these 10 years, when we consider the large number of severely injured patients we treat each year, (on average more than 1,600 annually). For this to be possible each cog in the major trauma wheel is a vital one.”
Henry, 36, of Burnley, added: “I am so grateful for the help and advice I got from Day One Trauma Support during those early days in hospital. I remember crying so much when I was told I would lose my leg. Having someone to talk to who understood exactly what I was going through was invaluable.”
Now, nearly five years on from the crash, Henry himself is training to become a Day One Peer Support Volunteer so he can help other people who suffer major trauma and is taking on a 96-mile trek to raise money for the charity.
“I am so lucky I had access to this support in Leeds and can’t wait to give back by helping other people like me. It makes me sad that not every major trauma patient gets the support they need, which is why I’m determined to raise money so Day One can be there for more people across the UK."