Two strangers, two accidents, one doctor and a life-saving friendship

Before the summer this year, Clive Potter and Steven Stark had never met one another. But both of them experienced horrific life changing incidents.  Fate brought them together only for them to find out that they were both saved by the same female Magpas doctor.

One late Saturday afternoon in June, Clive (from Stevenage) was on the river, socialising on a boat in Eynesbury St Neots, when there was a sudden emergency stop and next thing Clive found himself in the water. Tragically he lost his foot when it caught with the boat’s propeller. He says, “I remember looking up and thinking the sky was fading”. Luckily for Clive, the Magpas Helimedix arrived. Dr Anne Booth and Volunteer Paramedic Miss Jo Lambert gave him A&E level critical care and they then escorted him to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for surgery.

Coincidentally, Steven was in the same hospital ward as Clive. At the end of May, Steven (from between Thetford and Downham Market) was involved in a serious motorcycling accident, after the motorbike he was riding collided with a car on the A10 Brandon Creek. He suffered severe life threatening injuries. Again the Magpas Helimedix (Dr Anne Booth and Volunteer Paramedic Gary Spitzer) flew to his aid and saved his life. They then flew him Addenbrooke’s. Tragically Steven lost his leg below the knee.

When Clive and Steven met, they shared their stories with one another, only to find out that the same charity and the same doctor had come to their aid. Steve really struggled to come to terms with what happened to him; in fact he was suicidal at one point. But he says that Clive brightened his days. They used to have wheel chair races in the corridor at Addenbrooke’s and Clive used to make Steven laugh out loud during those times when he felt like doing anything but!

On Thursday 15th December at 11am, both men will be meeting the emergency medical teams (including Magpas Doctor Anne Booth) who saved their lives. They want to say thank you.