A BANK holiday trip to Ceredigion last year will be one to remember for the Love family but for all for the wrong reasons.

Jean Love was staying in a holiday cottage in Lampeter with her family when she slipped as she was walking down the stairs.

Jean, from Walsall, fell down most of the staircase and hit her head on a sofa, that was near the bottom of the stairs, which resulted in a very serious head injury.

The grandmother-of-six was knocked unconscious and was bleeding from her nose, mouth and ears. Jean, who was 77 at the time, also broke her collar bone and two ribs and fractured her skull. The Wales Air Ambulance was called due to Jean’s injuries being life threatening and the family were told that she might not pull through.

Wales Air Ambulance medics Dr Pete Williams, Critical Care Practitioners Mike Ainslie and Ian Thomas, and Pilot James Benson attended the emergency call.

On arrival, Jean had a decreased level of consciousness and was bleeding from her nose and right ear. The crew knew these were worrying signs of a severe head injury so to protect her brain from any further damage they gave Jean a general anaesthetic. This involved putting a breathing tube down into her lungs and connecting her to a breathing machine. Following stabilisation, the Wales Air Ambulance crew were able to fly her directly to the Major Trauma Centre at the Royal Stoke University Hospital. Following assessments, scans confirmed that Jean had sustained an extensive traumatic brain injury and her family were told her prognosis was poor and there was a chance she may not survive. Miraculously, over the next 24 hours Jean’s condition started to improve significantly and within several days she was able to move all her limbs, feed herself and had started to communicate. Jean’s son, Phill, said: “It was a rollercoaster over the first few days, with all of us assembling to say goodbye at one point. However, she rallied round and the Jean Love twinkly eyes started to emerge. As the days passed, she slowly started to come back to us, but has a road to recovery still ahead of her.”

The family, including Jean’s husband Ken, are delighted with her recovery, Phill said: “Considering that we were told she wasn’t going to pull through, mom’s health is pretty miraculous! She struggles for the right word occasionally, but is very good-humoured about it, laughing along with us if she can’t quite remember something, and generally going with the flow. “I don’t think the importance of the Wales Air Ambulance service can be underestimated. Without it, it’s unlikely that Jean would have survived, and even if she did, I’m not sure she would have recovered as well as she has done. The air ambulance is a lifeline.”

Jean’s grateful family have raised nearly £2,500 for the Wales Air Ambulance Charity after her sons David and Philip asked people for online donations. Jean’s other son Tony, who is a Morris dancer, also did a collection for the Charity at one of their dances which was added to the fundraiser.