Co Down teenager injured in farm accident reunited with paramedic six years on

A teenager whose life was saved by paramedics on the first ever call out of the Air Ambulance in Northern Ireland, says he can never thank them enough.

On 22 July 2017, Conor McMullan was working on a family farm just outside Castlewellan, Co Down.

It was a Saturday morning and like many Saturday mornings before, he was helping his father alongside his sisters - tending to different jobs during a busy time of year.

However, this wasn't to be a Saturday morning like those that had come before.

Recalling the accident almost six years on, Conor said despite being just 11-years-old, he can remember what happened.

"I remember going underneath the pallet to fix the spare and my sister looked back to see where I was and her foot slipped off the clutch," he said.

"A couple of hours later, I remember waking up in hospital in a bad state."

Conor was immediately tended to by his uncle as an ambulance was called. The vehicle made it through the winding roads before finding Conor lying outside a barn in the farm yard.

"I remember lying in the yard, just a glimpse" Conor added.

Little did Conor know that as well as receiving care from paramedics in ambulance, paramedics from Northern Ireland's Air Ambulance were on their way to the rural farm.

The service wasn't yet operational - this emergency coming just days before its official launch.

However, trained paramedics were at its base in Lisburn when it became evident on the 999 call out list that their assistance would be needed.

Glenn O'Rorke was one of those on board.

"We weren't officially live but we felt all of our processes were in place and we felt we could attend that call," he told UTV.

It took just under 10 minutes to reach the farm from Lisburn. The pilot on board had to ensure it was safe to land as close to the farm as possible, being aware of animals and equipment below.

Glenn O'Rorke said his team were able to provide assistance alongside colleagues from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) emphasising that it was a team effort to help save Conor's life.

"Conor had a significant head injury and sometimes it's not what you can see on the outside but what could be developing on the inside and that was our concern. We are part of a chain of survival, part of a chain of people.

"The NIAS crews done brilliantly on scene. We then provide that critical care intervention at the farm site but then it's the people Conor went and got surgery from, it's the A and E team, it's then going into the anaesthetics, the intensive care and then the rehabilitation.

After spending time in hospital where he underwent an operation on his head, Conor has only been left with one mark from an incident that could've taken his life.

A scar on the right side of his head, he says, is better than not being here at all.

"I was weary with it at the start, but now I don't even acknowledge that it's there," he said.

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), farming has the poorest safety record out of any industry in Northern Ireland.

Three out of the eight people who lost their lives at work between 2022 and this year worked on a farm.

It's a similar picture across the border with 12 people losing their lives in the Republic during the same period.

As part of farm safety week, authorities are calling on those working in the industry to be aware of potential hazards and to make their workplaces safer.

Camilla Mackey is Principal Inspector of HSENI’s Agri-Food Team.

She said: "Farm Safety Week offers us a great opportunity to remind the farming community of the risks they face on a daily basis and to encourage all farmers and their families to discuss these risks in order to maintain vigilance in helping prevent serious incidents and ill health as a result of farming activities."

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