An Cosantóir

21 SEARCH AND RESCUE as he knew what drugs had already been administered. Out in the waiting room, Alan had no idea that his son's heart had stopped beating. Some fifteen minutes after the helicopter arrived, hospital staff asked Alan if he had anyone with him. The family were all back in Cappoquin, he said. 'You need to get them up here,' he was advised and he knew he had better phone his wife, Treasa Gough, as it appeared that Glyn wasn't going to make it. As he waited for her to arrive, he received several further updates and each time it seemed a little more hopeful. Coagulants were working and 'he is still with us,' Alan was told. Glyn's mother, Karen, had died when he was only two years old; now she was being called upon in Alan's many prayers. Treasa had arrived when a doctor came out and told Alan that his son was 'still here'. After midnight that Saturday, four doctors came out to talk to the couple and explained that they had stemmed the internal bleeding and wanted to transfer Glyn to the Mater Hospital in Dublin the following morning. The couple tried to get some sleep in the waiting room. In the Mater next day, Alan and Treasa met the trauma team – Dr Keith Synnott and Dr Frank Lyons – who would operate on Glyn. It would be one of a series of surgical interventions designed to stabilise his pelvis and lower lumbar spine. Five days after his horrific accident, Glyn was able to wiggle his toes while in intensive care. He was also talking to his father, who had not left the hospital. It was in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, but Alan could think of nothing except that his son was alive and might even walk again. At one point, Alan spoke to Jennifer O'Connell of The Irish Times, who was in the hospital reporting on the effects of the pandemic. 'Every day this week has been a lottery win for me. The legs were the worry, and suddenly he's moving his toes. Today, he's talking to me,' Alan said. A week later, Glyn was out of intensive care, and having physiotherapy. He was alert and remembered everything. Alan believes that the Covid-19 crisis may have helped save Glyn's life, as there was no delay in the emergency services and no difficulty accessing an The crew of Air Corps 112, Emergency Aeromedical Service who helped save Glyn's life: «Capt Eugene Mohan, Advanced Paramedic Pat Moran, Alan, Celyn, Glyn and Cilian O'Connor, Comdt Stephen Byrne (missing from photo Cpl Jamie O' Sullivan)» «Courtesy of Cpl David O' Dowd, Irish Air Corps Press Office.»

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