York bus driver who needed foot amputation after crash to feature on Helicopter ER

Aaron Hill, 22, who works for rural bus services at Reliance Motors, was driving to work in his vintage Jaguar on York Road, when his car skidded in the wet weather and careered off the road into a ditch.

-> Yorkshire Air Ambulance pilot relives harrowing life-saving rescues

The impact of the crash immediately shattered both his thighs and trapped both of his legs and an array of emergency service personnel had to work against the clock to extract him, in fear that he would lose both his legs.

Reality show Helicopter ER will show how both of the Yorkshire Air Ambulances were deployed to help Mr Hill, including a team of specialist medics.

After being trapped for several hours and extracted by the fire service, a decision was made to fly him to Leeds General Infirmary.

Tests at the hospital revealed that Mr Hill had broken his thigh bone, a vertebrae in his spine and sustained neck and skull fractures.

Doctors battled to save his foot but unfortunately it had to be amputated.

“I was told that I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for a year due to my complex and comprehensive injuries”, said Mr Hill.

-> Helicopter ER show to reveal Ripon motorcyclist's Yorkshire Air Ambulance rescue and leg amputation

But he defied medics and has now learned to walk again.

His next goal is to focus on returning to work as a bus driver.

Speaking of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, he said: “Easingwold was part of my bus route and I used to see bucket collections for the YAA and spare the change from my lunch.

"Little did I know that I would need them in the near future.”

His accident will feature in Monday’s episode of Helicopter ER, the award-winning UKTV programme which follows the life-saving work of Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

The episode, which airs at 9pm on Really, also features a boy and father who suffered carbon monoxide poisoning on a power boat, a cyclist knocked down by a Volvo and a patient who suffered a heart attack after ignoring symptoms.

The show is made by York-based Air Television.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) serves five million people across the region and carries out more than 1,500 missions every year.

The charity operates two, state-of-the-art Airbus H145 helicopters and needs to raise £12,000 every day to keep saving lives.