Six-year-old Albie reunited with Thomas
On 3 April 2023 our critical care team were dispatched to a life-threatening medical emergency. The patient was six-year-old Albie.
Every day we are tasked to help eight people whose lives have suddenly turned upside down by serious injuries or medical emergencies. People who are going about their ordinary daily routine before finding themselves facing the most life-threatening and life-changing situations.
EAAA’s team of doctors and critical care paramedics bring the emergency department directly to the patient’s side where the difference between life and death rests on how quickly this advanced care reaches the patient.
Content warning: Video contains scenes that some viewers may find upsetting.
On 3 April 2023 our critical care team were dispatched to a life-threatening medical emergency. They were informed it was a child fitting. The patient was six-year-old Albie.
The medical interventions that saved Albie’s life are not available from the ambulance service alone. Thanks to you, we were able to deliver the intensive care unit to Albie outside his home and give him an anaesthetic hours earlier than would have been possible otherwise, stopping his seizures.
Albie’s story
Six-year-old Albie is a bubbly boy who loves Thomas the Tank Engine. He has autism and lives with his parents, Katie and Tim, and older brother, Owen in North Norfolk. Albie’s mum, Katie, recalls the moments of that April evening to demonstrate how your support came to the aid of their family.
“Albie was born with hydrocephalus, which means he has extra fluid in his brain, and he has had multiple brain surgeries to fit a shunt to help drain the excess fluid. In April 2023, he contracted chickenpox.”
Although Albie had chickenpox, he wasn’t too unwell. He was spotty but he had been running around as normal. We almost thought it was too easy. Later that night, he said that he felt ‘a bit funny’ but myself and my husband, Tim didn’t think too much of it and the boys went to bed as normal.
Shortly afterwards, my eldest Owen, age 11, text me from upstairs to say that Albie was making a funny noise. I went upstairs fully expecting to have to tell the boys to stop messing around and go back to sleep.
The call for urgent help
But what I saw was horrific. Albie was having a full seizure. His eyes were at the back of his head and arms and legs were jerking. He was making a strange noise too. I shouted for my husband to call an ambulance.
A First Responder from our village reached us within minutes, then the East of England Ambulance Service arrived and took Albie, still fitting, into the back of the ambulance. They put a call in to East Anglian Air Ambulance that they needed back up quickly.
“Seeing and hearing them land came with a mixture of emotions; relief that the extra help was coming but petrified that it was needed.”
Advanced critical care in a life-or-death situation
As you can imagine, we were all in a state of shock and panic. I still can’t find the words to describe what we were experiencing and feeling at that time. What was happening was so utterly scary.
In total Albie was fitting for over an hour. He was surrounded by doctors and paramedics, and we could only reach out and touch his foot while they were working on him. Doctor Toby explained everything; what they were doing and why, and what the next steps were. Everything was done so calmly and methodically. Albie was given much stronger medication, which the EAAA crew carry, and they intubated him to help keep him safe during a transfer to hospital.
“We deliver rapid critical care interventions at the scene of incidents because our team contains Doctors and Critical Care Paramedics working together. These interventions are not available from the ambulance service alone. In Albie’s case, we were able to deliver an anaesthetic hours earlier than would have been possible otherwise, stopping Albie’s seizures. In essence we brought the intensive care unit to Albie outside his home. Our helicopter allows us to take patients, like Albie, directly to the right centre so there is no delay in ongoing care.”
A time-saving transfer by air
We were to be transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge as the assumption was that the shunt was faulty, and Addenbrooke’s is a specialist neurological hospital.
“I travelled in the helicopter with Albie. The flight only took 30 minutes, while the drive from our home would have taken two hours.”
The EAAA crew stayed with us for what felt like ages, they kept checking I was ok while they handed over to hospital staff.
Albie was then taken to Paediatric Intensive Care where he spent the night. The following day, he was woken up and, as he came around, he told the doctors to go away and asked where his breakfast was!
After a few days and to check nothing was wrong with the shunt, Albie was transferred to our local hospital. He had been given a course of antibiotics for the chickenpox and, following discussions with his Consultant, Albie was diagnosed with Epilepsy.
Reuniting with the crew…and Thomas the Tank Engine
After the incident, the EAAA Aftercare Team supported us and invited our family to visit the Norwich base at Helimed House, where we saw Doctor Toby once again. It was nice to see him in a normal situation, but it was still really emotional. Owen was praised for raising the alarm that night; he has been affected by what happened, but the visit felt like a safe space and the EAAA team emphasised what a huge difference Owen made.
The EAAA crew were with us so quickly that night; their advanced drugs made a big difference. The speed of getting Albie to a specialist hospital too was crucial. It could have been a different story otherwise. The advanced skills, equipment and medicine of EAAA gave him the best possible chance and our family is so grateful to the crew and to the supporters of the charity who made it possible. We can’t thank you enough.
Albie is now fine and, thankfully, there has been no lasting damage. He has no recollection of what happened, and we are pleased to say he is back enjoying his world of Thomas the Tank Engine."