As Holly is falling onto the muddy ground beneath her, she hears a snap in her lower leg. One thing is on her mind: check What3Words: ///Predict.Collapsed.Adults. “How ironic,” she thinks.

In March 2025, Holly Treloar, 47, and her husband, Neil take in a beautiful walk on Chilcomb Down.

“It was a lovely, sunny Sunday,” remembers Holly. “It was just glorious.”

Around a mile away from the car, Holly navigates the slippery path with caution.

“My right foot went down a rabbit hole – I heard a snap,” she recalls.

“It was a sickening sound – one that neither of us will ever forget!”

It’s clear Holly has broken something, so Neil immediately calls 999. They know she won’t be leaving her 8-mile walk on foot – or even by car. Instead, she’ll be taken by air.

While it’s sunny and warm, the ground is cold and wet. As time goes by, Holly goes into shock.

“I was in that zone – like when you’re in labour,” she says. “I wasn’t screaming in pain or crying out; I just knew I had to get through it.

“I was shaking dramatically, and I could see the worry on Neil’s face.”

The crew arrive on scene

A road ambulance crew arrive but are unable to park nearby. Shortly after, a doctor and specialist paramedic from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance arrive on scene – the pilot lands just metres away from Holly.

“They were all great,” she says. “They comforted and reassured Neil, which meant a great deal to me. This part was worse for him than it was for me. He was obviously very concerned.

“As soon as they took my boot off, one of the crew said, ‘This is going to need an operation’. So we knew straight away how severe the break was.”

Holly is given a variety of strong pain relief and safely loaded into the helicopter – ready to be flown to hospital for further treatment.

The team taking off from scene to fly Holly to hospital

“I was so tripped out from the medication – I felt like I was in the Matrix,” she recalls.

“There was a part of me that thought I was dying, and I was moving onto the next realm! But I weirdly didn’t feel scared – and the crew reassured me that I wasn’t dying!”

There is planned maintenance work happening on the helipad at University Hospital Southampton. So the pilot must land in a nearby field where a waiting ambulance escorts Holly and the crew to hospital.

Limb-threatening injuries

Holly has a trimalleolar fracture – a serious break of the tibia, fibula and ankle joint. She is taken for emergency surgery that evening and another operation is planned for two weeks’ time.

She has a long and painful road to recovery ahead of her.

Looking back, Holly says:

“It’s crazy. I do a lot of yoga, I’m very fit – I even practice standing on one foot while I’m brushing my teeth! And just one wrong step can do all that damage. It can all just change in the blink of an eye.”

A chance to give back

In June, Holly’s son, Kalo, set off on the 1,611-km cycle from John O’Groats to Land’s End, raising an incredible £2,260 for our charity.

Holly and Kalo at the end of his gruelling ride

“We had no idea it was a charity and relied on fundraising,” says Holly, “which blows my mind. I am just so unbelievably proud of him and what he’s achieved.

“I can’t thank everyone who has donated enough.”

“And I am just so grateful to the Air Ambulance. Not only for the speed of their arrival but for their care, humour and constant reassurance – and also for their amazing Aftercare support. I just cannot fault them in any way.

“It’s the sort of service you don’t realise you need until you do. And then when you do, my God you’ll be glad they’re there.”

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