SO LUCKY TO BE
Mum’s praise for air ambulance heroes after son’s horrifying fall at farm
ASEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy is the inspiration behind a new TV advert after he had a near-death experience. When Will Hughes, from North Wales, was five he fell nearly 20ft through a clear Perspex panel in a roof, which was the same level as the road on one side, onto the concrete below.
A TV advert, which will air from December 26 to December 31 on ITV Wales, depicts the air ambulance crew as superheroes flying to save children across Wales. The advert is aiming to promote the works of the Children’s Wales Air Ambulance, the specialist division of the Wales Air Ambulance charity.
Actors will play the roles of Will and his mother, Rhian, as she recalls the horrific accident and how the air ambulance saved them from a potentially life-threatening drive of around 35 miles to the nearest hospital, Ysbyty Gwynedd.
Rhian, 40 who works with her family on a beef and lamb farm at Tan Y Bryn, Sarn Bach, near Abersoch, still gets emotional when re-living that day and says she can’t thank the crew enough for what they did for Will.
She said: “It was August in the summer holidays and we’d just come back from shopping. We were buying food as the kids wanted a barbecue.
“Will was playing outside with his sisters and his cousin. We have a little park as part of the caravan site we look after, and they were playing on the swings and slides.
“I was busy in the kitchen preparing the food when I heard my daughter Megan scream. I will never forget that scream. The memory of it kept me awake for nights afterwards.
“I knew something was seriously wrong, I ran out of the kitchen, I had no shoes on and the tin foil still in my hand.
“I didn’t want to go in the farm shed as I thought I would see my baby lying on the floor dead. I stopped outside the door, frozen. It was only when I heard his cries that I knew he was alive and I could go in.” Will had fallen nearly 18 ft onto the concrete, hitting his head on a small step.
Rhian continued: “Will was just standing there, still holding a chocolate bar in his hand. I can’t believe that he was able to even stand up after a fall like that but it must have been the adrenalin. We called the ambulance straight away as Will was complaining of a sore neck and tummy so we were worried that he could have had internal bleeding.
“The nearest hospital is in Bangor, which is at least an hour away, and with the summer traffic it could have taken much longer. The air ambulance crew turned up in minutes and made us feel so comfortable.
“The paramedic, Ian, spoke to Will in Welsh, his first language, and reassured him he didn’t have to have his tummy cut open. They also let me fly in the helicopter with him, which I’m so thankful for, as that would have been the most horrendous drive of my life. It took just 13 minutes to get him to the hospital and I was by his side for the whole time.” Miraculously, Will only suffered from bruis-