Helicopter heroes and healthcare staff in Campbeltown who turned a traumatic asthma attack into an adventure for a young boy have been praised by his parents.
Jamie Angus Sargent, four, has suffered from asthma since birth and the recent high pollen count has been taking its toll on him.
Mum Louise Bradley, 37, and dad Liam Sargent, 29, usually manage his condition with inhalers and antihistamines but when a severe attack strikes, he has to go to A&E at Campbeltown Hospital for steroids, nebulisers and oxygen to stabilise him.
On Thursday, he had to be taken by air ambulance to Glasgow - and the helicopter crew went the extra mile to put the boy at ease.
The man at the helm gave him a go at wearing his pilot’s helmet, and even turned the helicopter as they took off to let him wave to his mum and twin brother James.
In his tender years, Jamie has now been airlifted to the Royal Hospital for Children at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Campus five times.
It is always an anxious time for his mum and dad, James and his big brothers Ryan, 18, Robbie, 14, and 13-year-old Ross.
During the recent scare, Jamie’s breathing became laboured while at Campbeltown Nursery and his parents were called after his inhalers failed to provide any relief.
It became progressively worse throughout the night and Louise rushed him to Campbeltown’s A&E at 6am on Thursday.
His relieved parents say they can’t praise the A&E team, on call GP Dr Anderson and ambulance crew, both on road and in the air, enough.
Liam said: “He was struggling to breathe and was very distressed.
“I was anxious, I have been up with him three or four times before. They did everything they could to make it a good experience for him.
“By the time he was settled in, he was excited to go away in the helicopter, even though he was feeling quite poorly.
“The pilot put the helmet on him, so he was having a good wee time. His breathing was stabilised but still quite laboured, he still had the oxygen on.”
Louise added: “For a bad experience, they did everything they could to make it good for him.
“I was really upset for Jamie; you wish you could take it away for the wee soul.
“It was worse than one of his normal asthma attacks for sure. Pretty much immediately they got him started on the nebulisers and called the doctor out because it wasn’t working.
“He is familiar with the A&E team now, which helped relax him. I’m terrified of flying, I can go on a plane but not a helicopter.
“I had to get Liam out of work at Tesco to go up in it with him. We were transferred the short distance to the Robert Black Memorial Helipad by ambulance to get to the air ambulance.
“He can normally go home after back-to-back nebulisers and steroids, but this time was bad. We’ve heard the pre-pollen count is pretty high just now.”
She added: “He was transferred by the ambulance straight to the helipad. Dr Anderson, the on-call GP, came down and welcomed him onto the helicopter, all the staff were great.
“I went across to the nursery to get his brother and we sat on the wall to watch them take off. They saw us sitting on the wall as they were going up, and turned the helicopter round to wave at him.”
Dad Liam added: “It was so cool, so nice. To be honest, organising childcare was the most stressful part.”
They were in Glasgow within 25 minutes, receiving specialist treatment.
A good friend and neighbour, Andrea Rutherford, “dropped everything” to drive Louise and James to Glasgow to see Jamie, and took Liam back to Campbeltown to return to work.
The experience at the children’s hospital was also positive. Jamie had his pick of toys, an iPad and DVDs.
Louise said: “It was quite intense; they were checking him every half hour.
“Being so remote in Campbeltown, it is just amazing to have this service. It would take four hours to get to Glasgow by road.
“It is such a vital service. I would like to think it won’t happen again, but it is good to know that if it does they are so caring and professional.”
Fortunately, Jamie was well enough to return home last Friday and medics are continuing to try and diagnose allergies which could trigger his asthma.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear our air ambulance team had to be called to assist young Jamie but are really grateful for the very kind words from his mum about our air ambulance crew, paramedics Billy Burns and Colin Hird and helicopter pilot Evert Koning.
“Our air ambulance service is vital to the people of Scotland, including those in some of the most remote and rural areas of the country, including Campbeltown, and we hope Jamie is recovering well.”
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