Tree surgeon Paul, 38, is rushed into Resus by ambulance from Kent after falling 25 feet from a tree. He has a head wound and is complaining of shooting pains in his back and pins and needles in his feet.
Doctors are concerned that he may have injured his spine. 'When the patient comes in if they're complaining of pins and needles my heart always sinks' says orthopaedic doctor Mike. 'It could be a sign that there is trauma to the spinal cord which can cause paralysis'.
A CT scan shows that Paul has broken a vertebra in his back and medics are concerned fragments of bone could damage his spinal cord. Meanwhile Anthony, 66, who's recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's and Prostate cancer, has fallen down fifteen stairs at home. He's very frail and a scan reveals that he's broken some ribs, puncturing a lung and will need a chest drain.
His wife Jennifer reflects on how they met through a dating agency in 1975. 'We met up in London somewhere. And he had this funny tweed coat with a belt round the middle and I thought 'I don't like that!'
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