Eight-year-old Max Phillips from Rainham, Kent has been appointed as one of our Young Ambassadors. He joins a team of seven other inspiring young people who represent us, helping to raise awareness of our vital work.
Max’s Dad, Giles, suffered from an aortic dissection – a potentially fatal tear in the aorta – when he was at home in November 2020. Our team was quick to the scene and initiated treatment before transporting him to King’s College Hospital alongside South East Coast Ambulance, continuing to monitor and maintain his blood pressure and heart rate en route, as both had dropped to a dangerously low level.
Since then Giles has made a full recovery, and Max and his family have visited us in Rochester meeting doctors and paramedics and finding out more about our world-leading pre-hospital emergency care.
Sarita Taneja, our Patient and Family Aftercare Manager said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to get to know Max and his family. As soon as we met Max at our Rochester base, we knew he had the kindness and enthusiasm to make a perfect Team KSS Young Ambassador. We were over the moon when he said he would be happy to join us.”
“Our Young Ambassadors have an important role to play in helping the community understand more about what we do and our vision to end the preventable loss of life from medical emergencies. These incredible young people inspire support, which is critical as we rely on the generosity of our supporters for 87% of the £16.6M it costs each year to operate our service.”
Max Phillips said: “I would like to help and become more involved with KSS because the doctors and paramedics helped my Dad in November 2020. They looked after him and made sure he got better and that has motivated me to raise awareness and money. I hope I will also be able to meet and help other children who have had similar experiences to me. I am looking forward to being involved and meeting the other Young Ambassadors and learning more about KSS.”
Max’s first role as a Young Ambassador was to join other Young Ambassadors, former patients, volunteers and staff to sign thank you cards which are sent to some of our dedicated supporters.
To learn more, visit our Young Ambassadors page.
