Life-saving work of Yorkshire Air Ambulance shown on TV again

The dramatic rescue of a cyclist after a high-speed crash features in the new series of the reality TV programme, which starts its second series at 9pm on Really.

Triathlete, cyclist and endurance runner Tom Phillips was on a 130-mile cycle ride through the Yorkshire Dales when he lost control on the steep Buttertubs Pass descent and smashed into a drystone wall.

He suffered a broken neck, spine, sternum, several ribs and collarbone in the crash.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance paramedics stabilized Tom before airlifting him to James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, in 20 minutes.

The journey by road would have taken an hour-and-a-half.

The 53-year-old underwent seven hours of surgery to repair his back and collarbone, with metal rods inserted on either side of his spine.

He was back on a bike within three months and has since raised £3,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

The first episode of the new series also features an elderly dairy farmer attacked by one of his own herd and a crash on the A1 in which a car careered over a bridge and burst into flames on the motorway below, trapping the driver.

Helicopter ER is made by York-based Air Television, which recently won two Royal Television Society awards for the first series.