Medic’s relief and joy as crew save three-year-old Felix
BY ANNA BURNSIDE anna.burnside@reachplc.com there’s an output. It meant there was a heartbeat. And where there’s a heartbeat, there’s life and I started crying.” More help was arriving. Brian said: “This little boy’s stars aligned. Everything was in place that day to save that boy’s life. “The trauma team was a paediatric anaesthetist and a consultant paramedic who specialised in paediatrics. “It was just chance it was two paediatricians on that day. They took over the drug treatment while we continued to do the airways and get him stabilised before we moved him.” Felix went off in an ambulance to hospital. Police escorted him all the way, to ensure a smooth journey for the desperately-ill child and the two doctors treating him on the move. Brian explained what was happening to Laura and took her in his vehicle as part of the convoy. He said: “When we put Felix in the ambulance, that was the adrenaline done. His mum grabbed me and gave me a big hug. I started welling up, it was really quite emotional.”
Brian has been a paramedic for almost 10 years.
His unit, the Special Operations Response Team, are trained to deal with the toughest emergencies. He’s at multiple car crashes, drownings and major incidents every day. But Felix got under his skin.
He said: “We always think about what the outcome’s going to be. Going on previous experience, I didn’t think Felix was going to survive.”
Doctors put Felix into a coma to give his body a chance to recover. The next morning, Laura was back to the hospital. And despite being in a coma, Felix was fighting his way out. “He’s a total warrior,” Laura said.
By Wednesday, it was time to take him out of a coma. It would then be clear if there was any brain damage. It took just 20 minutes to bring a bewildered but perfectlywell Felix round.
Brian and John spent the week wondering how Felix was getting on. Come Sunday, when they were back on shift, they popped in for a visit. Felix, who they had last seen with an oxygen mask over his face, being loaded into an ambulance with a police escort, was jumping on the bed.
Brian said: “It’s a job I’ll never forget for the rest of my life, one of the ones where you feel that you did make a difference.
“That boy will go on to have a family, have children, have a life. The outcome makes it a happy situation.”
The accident has changed how Laura feels about her son.
She added: “It is the most horrific thing I’ve ever been through but the most positive things have come out of it.
“I was looking at the stuff he wasn’t doing instead because of his autism instead of appreciating the beautiful little boy.
“Now I just look at him and I’m flabbergasted. I’m so grateful for everything.”
●Paramedics on Scene is on BBC Scotland on Sunday, September 29, at 9pm.