The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Air ambulance paramedic Darren O’Brien meets young James Davidson whose life he helped to save after a dog attack. Picture: PPA.
ATTACK: Team flew into action after three-month-old boy was mauled by family dog
A three-month-old Angus boy has been reunited with the Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) team that saved his life after he was mauled by a dog.
Baby James and his parents Morven and Derek Davidson travelled to the SCAA base at Perth Airport yesterday to meet paramedic Darren O’Brien and pilot Captain Shaun Rose.
On December 1, James was attacked by one of the family’s dogs in the family home in rural Glen Esk when the animal jumped into the baby’s pushchair, damaging his airway, punctured an artery and nearly ripped off an ear. The dog has since been destroyed. Captain Rose, Mr O’Brien and fellow paramedic John Pritchard raced to the scene before flying the child to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI) for treatment at the hospital’s major trauma centre.
Morven and Derek are in no doubt that the speed of the air ambulance team helped save their son’s life.
Derek said: “It is great to be able to meet and put a face to these guys and say thank you.
“We feel that they’re lifesavers. We really believe the speed played a big part.”
The parents didn’t realise the extent of James’ injuries until after his operation at ARI.
Derek said: “The surgeon came out and said we almost lost him.”
Morven said: “With the airway I’m not sure how much you can do but his ear was a big thing for us. The fact they were able to save his whole ear is because of how quickly they got to him.”
The baby spent 10 days in ARI with his parents moving into the hospital beside him.
The SCAA team were thrilled to see the family walk through the doors at Perth Airport less than two months later with James having made a full recovery.
Mr O’Brien said: “We have some really lousy days in this job when it doesn’t go our way so thanks to these guys for coming in. I’m chuffed to bits.”
Captain Rose said: “It’s fantastic to see them. We don’t get many people who do come back.”
The parents are now holding a fundraiser for SCAA and have been taken aback by the amount of people donating gifts to the cause, with some coming from as far afield as Germany.
Derek said: “Because of where we live in the middle of nowhere, everyone we know is liable to need the air ambulance.”
The fundraiser will be held at Tarfside Community Hall on February 8 at 7pm.
It is no secret that Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) is a fantastic operation. But for parents Morven and Derek Davidson, who may have lost their baby son if it hadn’t been for the quick work of the team, it must be unbearable to imagine what may have happened if it didn’t exist.
It is easy to forget SCAA does not get any government funding and relies entirely on donations so it is nice to see people like the Davidsons give thanks, with a fundraiser as well as words.