Harry is trying to have a quiet day out with his family at the local county fair. As his children squabble, a skydiver jumping out of a plane and a bungee jumper clash disturbingly, causing them to become entwined as they fall to the ground. Harry rushes to help, much to the dismay of his 16 year old daughter, Tally. She has decided to go backpacking with her boyfriend instead of doing her A-levels as Harry wanted, causing some tension between them.
Meanwhile, Nikki is fighting fit and is back at work with Josh. She proudly shows him her scars from the attack and doesn't seem bothered about the fact that she nearly died. In reception, Tony is teasing Jack about his marriage proposal to Nikki whilst she was unconscious. Tony tells Jack that he is the only man who could propose with his wife- to- be not knowing anything about it!
Lara has a meeting with her solicitor, though he gives her a pretty hard time about the death of DCI Collier. Lara says she feels she's lost the battle before it's even started and the reason for her self defence was because she'd seen the damage that David Collier had done to his wife, Melanie.
Back in A&E, Duffy is being snappy towards everyone, especially Roxy, who is getting stick from Anna about baby Nicole keeping everyone awake. Finally, Charlie finds out that the reason for Duffy's short fuse is that she's received £300,000 from Andrew's life insurance company. She tells Charlie that Andrew was worth much more than that, and she is adamant she is going to return the money. In response to this, Charlie tells her that she should keep it for her children’s' sake and their education in the future.
Back at the county fair, Harry realises that the traffic situation is chaotic, so decides to call the air ambulance helicopter instead. Unfortunately, his plan tragically backfires when the parachute gets stuck in the helicopter’s engine during take-off. The helicopter comes hurtling towards the ground and crashes with the pilot, injured man, doctor and paramedic on board.
In the ambulance, Josh accidentally lets slip of Jack's proposal and Nikki can't help but play a trick on Jack when Tony finally persuades him to tell her. Nikki pretends to be really excited, but when seeing the scared expression on Jack's face, she confesses jokingly that she wouldn't marry him if he were the last man on earth! However, the fun soon dissolves when Nikki gets a call to the estate where she was previously stabbed, Bullgreen Estate. She tells Josh she'll take the shout but this time she's waiting for the police to arrive before doing anything.
At the fair, Harry searches for his children to check they're alright. When he finds them, they are all fine apart from his son, Jordan who has a minor head injury. Despite his children’s annoyance, he leaves them to help the other victims of the crash. When finding the helicopter, he sees the pilot is already dead and to help the original patient, he'll have to amputate the doctor's leg right there, in amongst the commotion of the crash and the paramedic who is fighting for his life. His legs are trapped by a load of metal and he can't feel anything below his waist.
At the solicitors’, Lara meets with Harry's wife and tells her she doesn't regret a thing, but they are interrupted when Harry's wife receives a phone call from Tally telling her what has happened. Comfort and Fin arrive at the scene, although they do not succeed in saving their fellow paramedic as he has stopped breathing. Previously, Harry removed the doctor's leg, though later he finds out the patient has died and he might not have had to perform surgery on the doctor. He feels a great deal of responsibility and thinks he has let himself and everyone else down.
Lara enters the department and attempts to help in Resusc, but is devastated when she gets a firm word of advice form Harry telling her the GMC could have her struck off for her actions.
As a result of Nikki waiting for the police, she gets shouted at by Simon, telling her she wasted precious moments. Josh reassures her that they all have to make tough decisions, and just when she accepts this, Simon tells Nikki that the patient has died. Nikki looks in devastation, whereas Collette informs Simon that Bullgreen Estate was the place where Nikki was stabbed. He claims he didn't know but looks a bit guilty for shouting at her.
It's been a trying day in Casualty for the patients and the staff.
Episode first broadcast Saturday 14th September 2002
Additional Cast
Beth Harper
Lydia Rooke QL Leon Willis
Jack Fortune Hugh Mark
Barton Hill Brian Foster
Pete Lee-Wilson Greg
Derek Elroy Tina
Juanne Fuller Terry
Vinta Morgan Bill Giddins
Steven Osbourne Eddy Cottrill
Julian Prothroe John Nolan
Adrian Smith Muriel
Kate Dyson
Written by Lucy Haydon (aka J-LU)
SERIES 17
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