Newton firefighters carry nan to hospital after fall on strike day

Renee Smith was the "talk of the hospital", her daughter Lynne said, as firefighters stretchered her in following a fall from an attic ladder.

An "old school" independent lady, Renee, from Newton-le-Willows, was trying to get up to her grandson's room to make sure all of the Bradlegh Road home was clean and their washing was done before Christmas.

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Renee with her grandson Aedan (Image: Lynne Caulfield)

After falling from the steps and narrowly avoiding a head injury, Renee's family scrambled home to help as the 85-year-old couldn't get back on her feet.

However, as she fell on the ambulance service strike day (Wednesday, December 21) and her injury wasn't life-threatening, she was faced with a long wait to get to the hospital.

Following a three-hour wait, Lynne got in touch with the Newton Community Fire Service in a "last ditch" attempt to speed up the process, as she could not get her mum safely downstairs to drive her to the hospital.

After a 999 call handler waved their help through, Lynne said the local firefighters were "absolutely amazing" with their swift response.

Renee had to spend Christmas in Whiston Hospital following her fall (Image: Lynne Caulfield)

"Tom and the [fire service] team came in with a plan and got cracking straight away on how to get my mum up and safely out of the house", she said.

"They looked for anything they could get my mum on and settled on a cloak cupboard door from downstairs, which my father-in-law wouldn't have been too happy about!

"They got her safely in my niece's car with the seats down and said 'we're coming with you'. They followed us to Whiston Hospital and spoke with medical staff to make sure she was seen to as quickly as possible."

Lynne called her mum a real trooper (Image: Lynne Caulfield)

The accident resulted in Renee, a great-great-grandmother, breaking her hip and having to stay in hospital over Christmas, where she remains until she can have physiotherapy to get back walking again. 

Lynne, who said she "absolutely stands with the striking ambulance service", confirmed that her "trooper" mum is "doing fab" and recovering well.

She added: "The first thing she asked when she saw me was 'have you done that washing?'

"So I knew she was back to her normal self!"