Bella Austin from Henley was with mum Gill in Brightwell Baldwin when the accident happened. The pair were loading Bella’s pony onto the family trailer for a show jumping competition when Gill’s little finger on her left hand got caught in a rope fastened to the animal and was torn off when it pulled back.
The youngster called 999 and spoke to Jacqui Bond, a call taker at South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s (SCAS) Emergency Operations Centre in Bicester. Jacqui kept Bella on the phone as colleagues dispatched a Medibike, a rapid response car, ambulance and Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance (Helimed 24) to the rural location.
The Helimed 24 was stood down after Bella fully explained her mum’s condition to the call handler, staying on the phone for 20 minutes until Barry Pritchard, a Medibike technician from the Didcot resource centre, arrived on the scene, along with paramedic Matt Luker and trainee technician Steve Dobson.
Bella was able to tell SCAS where she was, the telephone number she was calling from, what had happened to her mum, her age and that Gill was still conscious and breathing. She did such a good job, SCAS asked her to come along and give lessons to grown-ups on how to call emergency services.
Jacqui Bond said: “I said to Bella your mother’s going to be so proud of you. You’ve done really well, you’ve got help on its way to her, you’ve given exactly the information I need. You’ve told me exactly where you are. I wish more grown-ups could do what you’ve done. You’ve been so calm and brave.”
Mrs Austin was taken to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital but is now back at home. She said: “Bella stayed incredibly calm and gave the ambulance service directions to the remote location where the accident happened. The emergency operations centre staff was fantastic and gave Bella clear instructions that she was able to pass on to me.
“Bella asked a lady who lives nearby to go and look out for the ambulance, which, I’m glad to say, arrived in about 20 minutes from our call. Once I was packed off in the ambulance, Bella stayed behind with friends who had arrived by then and caught her pony who had run back to his field. She was fantastic throughout and I am really proud of her.”
Medibike technician Barry Pritchard added: “Bella’s one very brave young lady. She was stood halfway up a long drive on the phone to our emergency operations centre as I arrived. She directed me and soon after the ambulance where to go. She didn’t appear upset, even when she said goodbye to her mum as the ambulance conveyed her to John Radcliffe Hospital.”
