'I was one in a million' - miracle man Peter reunited with ICU life-savers
'I was one in a million' - miracle man Peter reunited with ICU life-savers
17 July 2023
Peter La Plain returned to St Mary’s with his wife Elaine and son Connor to say a heartfelt thank you to the remarkable intensive care team who looked after him for more than three months.
Peter, 60, sustained serious injuries on 6 August 2022 when he was involved in a collision with a motorcyclist. He suffered fractures to the neck, shoulder, right arm and lower leg as well as a shattered pelvis and damage to his spleen and abdomen. His left leg was amputated below the knee and a stent was inserted into his aorta.
Peter was told he was “one in a million” for pulling through despite having two cardiac arrests and being placed into an induced coma for more than seven weeks.
“I'm truly grateful to everyone who has been involved in my care. All the way from the roadside right through to discharge.”
Peter, former patient at St Mary's Hospital
“I was treated on the side of the road by parademics and I later learned that it was a miracle I’d survived,” Peter explained. “They said I was one in a million.”
After being rushed to the intensive care unit at St Mary’s, Peter’s condition was slowly stabilised. He was eventually moved from the ICU to the Valentine Ellis ward for further care before being transferred to his local hospital in Cambridgeshire in November - 14 weeks after he was admitted to St Mary's.
Today Peter is on the road to recovery and is learning to walk again with the aid of a prosthetic limb. Although the injuries have had an enormous impact on his life, he says he is grateful to be out of hospital and able to spend time with his friends and family again.
“I led a very active life before. Skiing, football, golf, swimming – there weren’t many sports I didn’t play, even at the ripe old age of 60!” said Peter.
“For all that to just go off a cliff has been very difficult for me and my family. It’s been a life-changing experience.
“But I’m truly grateful to everyone who has been involved in my care – all the way from the roadside right through to discharge. The ICU staff in particular were absolutely stunning, unbelievable. I can’t thank them enough.”
To say thank you for the incredible care he received at St Mary’s, Peter teamed up with friends, family and colleagues at RED Construction Group Ltd to raise more than £10,000 for Imperial Health Charity. A team of eight colleagues cycled 500 miles across the south of France in October last year, and the company also donated proceeds from its annual dinner dance and Christmas campaign.
We’ll use the funds that were raised to provide extra support to the ICU at St Mary’s, improving care for many more patients like Peter who experience life-threatening injuries and illnesses.
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