Online Reporter
Trust Freddy-Herald Correspondent
Everyone looked in the skies! But in an instant, the serene scene was transformed into a whirlwind of chaos.
Some women’s dresses were suddenly lifted up, leaving them giggling and embarrassed as they tried to pull them down.
The wind was so strong that it was like an invisible hand, grasping at their clothes and sending them flying.
This was the most dramatic effect of the Government-sponsored Air Ambulance as it descended onto Kadoma General Hospital’s helipad in the small mining town in Mashonaland West.
On board the aircraft were two medical practitioners, Dr Louis Tatenda Mushaike, a medical doctor with the National Air Ambulance Service (Zimbabwe), and Adrian Maposa, a registered general nurse and air medic including this reporter.
We were led by chief pilot, Vadim Vagapov and co-pilot Melvin Masanzi and ready to evacuate a miner who suffered serious injuries in a mine shaft in Kadoma, about 145km from Harare. The incident occurred when a section of the mine collapsed, severely injuring the artisanal miner, Original Gwarai aged 36 from Kadoma.
Gwarai was set to become the 200th patient to be airlifted by Air Ambulance since the beginning of the flying intensive unit last year in August.
As the wind died down, the people who had been watching the helicopter land began to move forward again, their faces still covered with dust and debris.
They coughed and spluttered, trying to clear their lungs of the dust that had been blown into the air. Kadoma General Hospital paramedics were already waiting with bated breath as they quickly invited the air medics to the ward where the miner, Gwarai, was admitted.
Dr Louis was swiftly briefed by a doctor stationed at Kadoma about Gwarai’s critical condition and he sprang into action, carrying out a series of tests with lightning speed.
It emerged that he had suffered blunt abdominal trauma, bladder injury, and a pelvic fracture in the mine collapse, and was now in urinary retention, needing urgent surgery at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital in Harare.
“Even if I am to die, at least I would have boarded a helicopter for the first time,” Gwarai, who was forcing a smile through his pain, said from his hospital bed, causing the entire ward to erupt into a fit of laughter.
Though he had the excitement of flying for the first time, it was clear that he was in excruciating pain.
“Ohh! Ohh! My bones are broken,” Gwarai screamed as paramedics tried to move him from his hospital bed, his voice echoing through the ward. Dr Louis immediately pulled out a pethidine injection, his hands moving with precision and care.
“Don’t worry, when we take you to the helicopter, you won’t even feel the pain again,” he reassured him, his voice calm and soothing.
As the doctor was preparing the injection, he also cracked another joke, his eyes twinkling with humour.
“I am going to give these doctors that have arranged this helicopter for me a kilogramme of gold when I recover,” jerking the whole ward into another burst of laughter again.
Even others who were visibly in pain in that ward could also be seen forcing a smile, and one could tell that they were even envying him.
“So you mean all these nurses that have been attending to you the whole time don’t deserve a kilogramme, but these ones just because they have a helicopter?” one nurse asked, her voice laced with amusement.
However, Gwarai did not mince his words, “Do you think this gesture is just a small thing? Several people have died without even boarding a plane,” he said while stammering in pain, his voice filled with emotion.
“I am certain that when I come back, I will stumble upon a kilogramme of gold because this incident is a sign that something big is going to happen,” he added, his eyes shining with hope.
Dr Louis immediately put him in a lumbar support belt and gave him the injection, and immediately Gwarai was complaining that he was feeling a bit dizzy.
He was quickly bundled into the stretcher tightly and put into an ambulance which carried him to the Air Ambulance, the sirens blaring as they sped through the hospital grounds.
The whole process of carrying out some tests and taking him to the ambulance took less than 10 minutes, the clock ticking away with precision. As the helicopter was about to depart, Gwarai’s wife and his brother came running and panting, their faces etched with worry.
“I am Gwarai’s brother, and this is his wife, I just want to take something from his bag,” they exclaimed, their voices filled with urgency.
However, Chief Pilot Vadim Vagapov could not take any of it, as he wanted to leave Kadoma at exactly 4pm, his voice firm and authoritative.
“Move, move, we now want to start the engine, you will see him in Harare, we work with time,” he shouted, his words punctuated by the sound of the helicopter’s rotors.
However, Gwarai’s wife kept pleading with him as she kept searching for the US$10 in her handbag that she wanted to give to her husband, her hands shaking with anxiety. She took about a minute searching, but his brother was the one who then just pulled out some notes from his pockets and handed them to Gwarai, his face filled with relief.
Immediately, the Chief Pilot started the engine, and at exactly 4.04pm, the helicopter was up, and the trees in proximity, which stood tall, started to sway due to the heavy wind, while some in the crowd waved goodbye.
The sound of the helicopter’s rotors filled the air, and the wind generated by the blades blew dust and debris in all directions, as the Air Ambulance lifted off into the sky, carrying Gwarai to Sally Mugabe Hospital.
Once the patient was on-board, Dr Mushaike provided an update on the miner’s condition.
“The patient sustained blunt abdominal trauma, bladder injury, and pelvic fracture secondary to a mine collapse,” he said.
He noted that while the patient’s vitals were within normal limits upon arrival, he was in urinary retention.
“We drained the urine via the suprapubic region with the assistance of the doctor from Chegutu Hospital. This patient requires urgent specialist attention,” he said.
Before even reaching Chegutu, Gwarai had fallen asleep sedated by the injection.
“The injection is powerful,” Dr Mushaike said while looking at Gwarai who had fast fallen asleep.
“To us, he is in a critical condition because he might be bleeding internally and needs urgent attention.”
For almost the entire journey, Gwarai was fast asleep and only woke up after about 30 minutes.
When he woke up, he told this reporter that he did not work for a corporate mining firm but was rather one of the artisanal miners who risk their lives in search of the precious metal.
“No, I don’t work at a mine, but I’m an artisanal miner, digging for gold,” he said, using the Shona phrase “yedu ndeye ngura ngura mudhara”, before dozing off again.
At exactly 4.43pm, we landed at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital, marking a flight time of approximately 39 minutes. An ambulance was already waiting at the hospital’s helipad, and Gwarai was immediately rushed to the ward.
At Sally Mugabe Hospital, the arrival of the Air Ambulance did not turn a lot of heads, as many people have grown accustomed to its frequent visits, with the aircraft making a minimum of two trips almost every day.
Few minutes later, the other air ambulance which had been dispatched to Chegutu to evacuate a woman in labour to Chinhoyi Hospital arrived. This crucial mission was led by chief pilot, Alexandra Rusanov and co-pilot Richard Sithole.
The air ambulance flew from Harare to Chegutu in just 30 minutes and then to Chinhoyi in 25 minutes, totalling 55 minutes for the entire journey. This efficient transport saved 34 minutes compared to the traditional road journey, which typically takes 1 hour and 9 minutes.
These two separate rescue missions, brought, the total of patients airlifted to over 200 since August last year.
As the programme continues to expand, officials hope to further improve healthcare access for all Zimbabweans, particularly in underserved regions.
Government’s commitment to this initiative reflects a broader strategy to modernise healthcare delivery and ensure that emergency medical services are available to those in urgent need.
With the successful airlifts and the ongoing roll-out of services, the air ambulance programme stands as a testament to Zimbabwe’s dedication to enhancing public health and saving lives nationwide.
