AN RAF sergeant featured in the 2015 New Year’s honours list for saving the life of a man who suffered horrific injuries following a quarry fall.

David Currie (27), originally from Kincardine, is a winchman and medic based at RAF Valley on Anglesey in north Wales, and received a letter on Wednesday 31 December informing him that he had been awarded an Air Officer Commanding’s (AOC) commendation in light of his work with the RAF search and rescue force.

The former Dunfermline High pupil said: “There are four of us on the Sea King aircraft – two pilots and two winchmen.

“One winchman is operating the winch and at the end of the wire is me. I’m dangling at the end being put into various places, be it on a fishing boat at sea or on a cliff in the mountains. I rescue the casualties and give them medical attention.” Despite David’s experience in dealing with these kinds of rescues, the evening of Tuesday 10 June 2014 would prove to be unforgettable and test their skills to the limit.

The call came in that a man had fallen into the flooded Llangollen quarry – a former slate works.

The team were airborne in 10 minutes and David said: “A man had fallen into this remote and hard-to-reach quarry near Wrexham. He had fallen about 200ft down the face, hit the bottom and was lying in shallow water.

“He had been pulled out by a friend but was in a bad way. An ambulance was called, arrived, but couldn’t get in and it took 45 minutes to locate the man because it was so remote. They called the RAF to have a look at the situation.

“We turned up to do a search, flew over the quarry and had a good look out. We spotted the high-visibility vests on the paramedics and hovered just above them. There was a lot of downwash and we couldn’t land because of the water. We couldn’t land at the top and walk down because it was so steep-sided so we elected to winch.

“The cable is 245ft long and we were just shy of all of it. I thought the man was dead but I took the medical equipment anyway just in case. I detached from the winch and intervened as much as possible but there is a balance as a winchman of how much medical intervention to give.

“The biggest concern was if he had broken his back and the decision to make is do you rescue quickly and make it worse or do you go slower to reduce risks?” As it turned out the man, in his 30s, had suffered two broken legs, a broken pelvis, two collapsed lungs and internal bleeding. David also suspected that he had broken an arm and that his back may also have been broken.

David said, “My first thoughts were to plug the holes where he was bleeding and see to all the life-critical injuries.

“We started to winch him up on the stretcher but his condition deteriorated quite quickly as this was happening so we cancelled the stretcher.

“We put him in two strops, which are like two thick belts, under his arms and his knees and winched him out with myself attached to the cable. This didn’t provide the same level of care as we had no time to protect his back. It was tricky knowing that these actions could paralyse him.” The team flew straight to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent where they have a major trauma centre.

“We winched him on board and were working on him in the back of the helicopter. During transit his pulse slowed and his breathing dropped off. He went into cardiac arrest so we performed CPR on him in the aircraft, did a handover at the hospital and, after a blood transfusion, he came round again.

“The last I heard he was still alive but he had to have one of his legs amputated. He was the most severely injured casualty I have seen in my time. He was lucky to survive and the doctors’ notes make me more surprised each time I read them. I have never attended anyone alive who later died – he could have been the first. I couldn’t believe he survived, I was shocked.” David’s inclusion on the honours list has an added royal connection as he trained in Anglesey around the same time as Prince William. He said, “Our paths have crossed at various times. He was very approachable and a really nice guy and very down-to-earth. The guys who flew with him have always got positive words to say about him.” As a result of David’s actions he also picked up a trophy awarded by the medical company Laerdal who commend those who take part in a notable medical intervention. He was nominated for this award by the co-pilot.

David’s parents Tom and Violet are understandably very proud of their son’s achievements and Violet said: “He’s one of those guys I just don’t know how to describe. He gets into things wholeheartedly and is always about. He was the same at school and always got involved in things.”