Critical Condition S05E06 - Episode 6

Trauma Team Leader Diane Adamson is put on high alert when a call comes in about a builder who has had a terrifying 25-foot fall through a roof. When Tomasz is rushed in, he's in excruciating pain, having landed heavily on his feet – with his lower body and spine taking the full impact.

Given his spiralling pain levels and knowing that builders only come to hospital when they really have to, Diane has major concerns about the potential damage to Tomasz's spine. Rushing her patient to the scanner, she confirms her worst fears: Tomasz has three spinal fractures – injuries which if not treated properly and immediately could leave him paralysed in a wheelchair for life.

Meanwhile, for 19-year-old Anya, there's not a moment to lose. Gasping for air, Anya is having a full-blown acute asthma attack, which is putting her young body under massive strain. Despite the paramedic's best efforts, Anya's condition has deteriorated rapidly on the way into the hospital and Registrar Sunday Ekaidem needs to act fast before her body shuts down completely.

Across the hospital, Melissa prepares for a time-critical procedure that is fraught with danger. Melissa, just 17 weeks pregnant and suffering from papillary thyroid cancer, must undergo surgery to completely remove her thyroid and 30 of her lymph nodes. Already a high-risk procedure, the operation must take place in her second trimester to avoid increasing the already high chance she has of miscarrying her unborn daughter in the middle of surgery.

Back in resus, a serious fall which happened four days previously has finally caught up with 59-year-old Tim. Having passed out at the top of the stairs and plummeted downwards, Tim had been trying to manage the agonising pain, until the discovery of a high concentration of blood in his urine, lead him to call the emergency services. Now the race is on to diagnose where and why Tim is internally bleeding.