My name is Lauren, and this is the story of how Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex saved my son Charlie’s life.
He was only eight at the time and just starting to play outside on his own with friends. The day it happened, his dad told him to watch the road on our normally quiet residential street, as always – and kept an eye on him from the window. The next thing I knew, my husband was yelling ‘he’s been hit!’, before running out the door. A car had hit Charlie and thrown him forward and then continued. When I saw him he was lying in the road, unconscious with blood pouring from his head.
I started to scream. My neighbours called 999 because I couldn’t stop screaming.
Al, from the South East Coast Ambulance Service, was only one motorway exit away so arrived very quickly and was the first Critical Care Paramedic on the scene. Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) dispatcher Carol had been listening in to the 999 call, so the helicopter followed right away.
All of a sudden, I saw Doctor Matt coming towards us. I was still in such a state of shock, that I hadn’t even heard the helicopter land. But in a strange way, Dr Matt’s arrival brought me sharply back to reality. Suddenly I thought ‘that’s the doctor from 24 hours in A&E’ and in that moment I realised how serious our situation was. Later, Al told me he’d never been so pleased to see the KSS Team.
Charlie’s head injury was catastrophic; the car had run over his head and his brain was severely damaged. His pelvis was broken in four places. He had significant bruising and grazing to his right arm from being dragged along the road. They put Charlie on a ventilator so he could breathe. The helicopter took him to King’s College Hospital in London within 17 minutes. In his condition, I’m certain Charlie wouldn’t have survived in a normal ambulance. I saw Matt making a phone call and asked who he was calling. He explained it was a code red call to King’s College Hospital, so that staff would be ready to meet us when we landed.
I had to let Charlie go and wait in the family room. It was the longest wait of my life. It took five hours to stop my son’s bleeding. He was in a coma by the time we were finally able to see him. I can’t describe how it feels to see your baby boy in that state. Even when he came around, he was completely vacant. The doctors said he wasn’t recognising us, yet I felt sure his eyes followed me around his room. They also said he was likely to be paralysed down his right side. We had no idea if he would become responsive. He was like a baby again. He couldn’t do anything for himself and had to be fed through a tube.
We are so lucky and grateful that he is still here with us. Over the next few months Charlie underwent intensive physio and language therapy, re-learning colours and numbers. He still has a lot of scars from his injuries, many of which he’ll have for life. His brain hasn’t fully recovered, so he has problems with his memory and lives with this hidden disability. Yet, without KSS and the team at King’s College Hospital, he wouldn’t be here at all. We went to meet the crew who saved him. But how do you say thank you for saving your son’s life? I try to support KSS in any way I can and that’s why now I volunteer and fundraise for them.
A year on from his accident, we were delighted to see Charlie back at school and doing really well. school. To say thank you for saving his life, our family do all we can to help KSS. Before Charlie’s accident, I never realised just how much they depend on local people like you and me to deliver the life-saving work they do. Meeting the crew who helped save Charlie’s life only strengthened our determination to give something back. Sharing our story became one small way of doing that, and we remain incredibly grateful to everyone at KSS and King’s College Hospital for giving Charlie the chance to grow up and enjoy life with his family.
Seven years on (October 2026)….
Today, Charlie is nearly 16 years old, a milestone that feels especially significant for our family. It also means that he has now spent almost half of his life living with the effects of the brain injury he suffered that day.
If you met Charlie, you might never guess what he has been through. Many of the challenges he faces are invisible. He looks like any other teenager, but the reality is that he still lives with the lasting impact of his injuries every day. His memory is affected, he needs additional support, and there are things most teenagers take for granted such as catching the bus into town that remain difficult for him.
When Charlie was first admitted to hospital, we were told he may never walk or talk again. Yet he walked out of hospital. Every milestone since then has felt significant. Simply getting up, going to school, building friendships and continuing to move forward are things we never take for granted.
Charlie is now in an educational setting that better meets his needs, and we hope this will help him continue to thrive and eventually move on to college. He loves music, especially attending concerts, and has built an impressive vinyl collection. He has a fantastic sense of humour, is incredibly caring and is devoted to his family and friends.
I am immensely proud of him. Everything he has achieved has come through determination, resilience and hard work. While we never want his accident to define him, it has undoubtedly shaped the person he has become.
As a family, we have had to adapt too. When Charlie first came home from hospital, I felt overwhelmingly positive because he had survived. As time has gone on, we’ve learned more about the long-term impact of brain injury and the challenges that come with it. Charlie is doing incredibly well, but his life looks different to how it may otherwise have been.
There is a happy ending to our story, but it comes with a tinge of sadness. Charlie survived, and for that we will always be grateful. However, he continues to live with the effects of a major trauma, and our family continues to navigate life alongside those challenges.
We still live in the same house, and I not only drive past the site of the accident every day but can see it from the house. There will never be a day when it doesn’t cross my mind in some way. But what stays with me most is the knowledge that without the specialist care Charlie received that day, he simply would not be here.
Over the years, KSS has remained part of our lives. I volunteer and fundraise for the charity, while Charlie is proud to be a Young Ambassador. What began as the worst day of our lives has grown into a lasting relationship with the people who helped save him. Through their Patient and Family Aftercare Team and wider KSS family, they have continued to support us long after the incident itself.
Seven years on, our gratitude remains as strong as ever. Charlie is here, he is growing into a wonderful young man, and that is only possible because of the care he received from KSS and the team at King’s College Hospital.
