Life Flight

7-year-old Jason was taken by his mum Lanita to a doctor’s appointment to have some eye drops put in. Shortly after the drops were put in, Jason started saying, ‘My eyes, my eyes, I don’t feel well’.

Lanita thought it was very unlike Jason, so instead of taking him back to school she took him to her office to keep a close eye on him.

Her instincts were right on track. Not long after returning to the office, Jason became unresponsive. His lips turned blue. And his heartbeat almost disappeared.

Lanita quickly dialled 111, while her husband began CPR. Thankfully, the ambulance arrived, and Lanita remembers,

The paramedic immediately got on the phone saying, “I need Air 1, Air 1.”

I thought, ‘Oh my god, he’s just called the Westpac Chopper. This is really serious. I might not see Jason alive again. I might lose my son.

Jason’s life was in grave danger. Life Flight’s Westpac Chopper was airborne just a few moments after the call came through.

When Lanita heard the sound of chopper blades in the distance, she felt a sense of overwhelming relief.

The chopper landed, and [the crew] came over and explained they needed to get Jason stabilised before taking him. He was going to be put in an induced coma.

“It was incredible watching all these people come together to save my son; and completely overwhelming.

Putting someone (especially a child) into an induced coma is an extremely complicated procedure. It can only be performed by the most highly skilled paramedics in the country. Thankfully, our Critical Care Paramedic Serah knew exactly what to do.

Once Jason was safe, they loaded him into the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and raced to Wellington Hospital.

Jason was kept in a coma until the next day at the hospital, where his parents anxiously waited to see if he still had any signs of brain function.

We were told, if he moves around, that means he has brain function. If he doesn’t move around, it means nothing good.

We slept with him overnight, looking at photos we’d taken of him the day before thinking, these might be the last photos of Jason alive.

It was a long 24-hour wait before Lanita and her husband watched the hospital staff pull out Jason’s breathing tube. Sure enough, Jason was thrashing around.

I was so relieved, I don’t even have the words.

“All I could say was, ‘I love you darling. You’re going to be ok.

And Jason was ok. While it hasn’t been an easy (or quick) recovery, Jason is now thriving and loving life.

Thank you for helping save this little boy’s life.