AUCKLAND, New Zealand — An off-duty paramedic who drove himself to an ambulance station after breaking his neck has returned to work.
Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter advanced paramedic Rob Gemmell was surfing Easter weekend when a wave picked him up and dumped him head-first into the sand.
“I felt a crunch in my neck and I knew as I was rolling around in the surf that... something was wrong.” Gemmell tells the New Zealand Herald. “I felt like my head was going to fall off.”
Gemmell said he could stand up, but his hands automatically went to his neck. He said that his past experience as a medic prepared him for the incident.
With one hand on his neck and one on the steering wheel, Gemmell drove to St. John ambulance base at Mangawhai, about six miles away.
He was hospitalized with a C1 vertebra injury, and only returned to work earlier this week.
“I have lost count of how many surfers we have picked up over the years who have neck injuries, and I wouldn’t say you get used to it but it was very humbling experience and gave me a different perspective being on that side of things.”
“I now understand how vulnerable our patients feel when they are like that, lying on their back and so reliant on other people.”
While Gemmell had the medical expertise to assess his situation safely; he strongly advises others not to do the same.