Wisbech farmer spiked by forklift thanks life-saving teams

Jonathan Willis said he was "so thankful that there were so many expert teams available"

A "miraculously lucky" farmer who survived being impaled through the abdomen by a tine on his forklift truck has thanked medics who saved his life.

Jonathan Willis, 42, was unloading straw bales at his Cambridgeshire farm when the vehicle rolled into him.

The emergency services managed to free him before he was transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge for surgery, still impaled by the tine.

Surgeon Emmanuel Huguet said his survival seemed "near impossible".

Emergency services took an hour to free Jonathan Willis from the forklift, while he remained awake and standing

Air ambulance consultant Dr Nathan Howes said he would never forget the sense of humour Mr Willis showed as the team worked to free him

On 26 October last year, Mr Willis was standing by a trailer of straw bales at his farm near Wisbech when the forklift rolled forward and trapped him. The tine entered his lower back and exited his abdomen.

"As soon as the spike touched my back I was wondering 'what's that', and I started to twist around to the side - that's why it went across my whole body, because I wanted to see," he said.

"It was a big worry. There wasn't a lot of blood so I was thinking 'hopefully this isn't too bad'."

His wife Wendy called 999 at 16:32 GMT and the East Anglian Air Ambulance arrived within seven minutes.

It took an hour for ambulance, police and fire teams to cut the steel tine from the forklift.

Mr Willis was given advanced pain relief, but was awake and standing throughout.

Wendy Willis said without the skills of the air ambulance team her husband would not have made it

Air ambulance consultant Dr Nathan Howes said: "It was incredibly important that any movement of Jonathan or the tine was minimised, in case it worsened any internal bleeding, but we also needed to free him quickly.

"I was so impressed by how stoic Jonathan and his wife Wendy were."

Mrs Willis described it as "living my worst nightmare".

She said she would be forever grateful to those who helped her husband.

"You have saved our family," she said. "My five girls will grow up with their daddy, and their lives would have been very different.

"All we can say is thank you a million times."

Mr Willis arrived at Addenbrooke's at 18:51, where a surgical team of about 30 people were on standby.

Addenbrooke's surgeon Emmanuel Huguet said the removal of the tine was highly complex

Consultant liver and transplant surgeon, Mr Huguet, said they were "astounded by the trajectory of the spike".

"It had transfixed parts of the intestine, but somehow found an incredibly improbable 'eye of the needle' line past all the major blood vessels, as well as missing the right kidney, liver and pancreas," he said, making its removal safe.

"Mr Willis was... miraculously lucky."

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The farmer said he was "so thankful that there were so many expert teams available to help me get through it".

"They were second to none," he said. "None of them would go home until everything was sorted, even if they were supposed to be off their shift.

"They were brilliant and I couldn't thank them enough."

The family has since raised £45,000 for the air medics charity that helped saved his life.

The farm is in a remote part of the Cambridgeshire fens, close to Wisbech, and an hour and half's drive from Cambridge