Logan’s Story

Logan was just 12 years old when he suffered a life-threatening medical emergency, leaving him in need of critical care from his local air ambulance.

As every parents’ worst nightmare unfolded, Logan’s mum Sue, tells his story:

“It was the 29th December and myself, Logan and his sister Elayna were all at home. I was trying to arrange to meet up with my friend Stacey and her children, Logan was playing on his PlayStation and Elayna was up in her room. We couldn’t figure out a time to meet so in the end I just told the kids to go and get dressed so that we could take the dog out.

As I was in the toilet downstairs, I heard my daughter calling for me saying that Logan had a headache. I thought he just didn’t want to come for the walk, but when I got upstairs he was doubled over in pain.”

Immediately, Sue made the decision to call 999, alerting her friend Stacey and asking her to come over.

“Whilst on the phone to the emergency services, I felt quite calm as I answered all their questions. The 999 caller was really lovely. Logan had gone very quiet but was still able to help by answering a couple of the questions they asked, but within a few minutes he had lost consciousness.”

By this time, Sue’s friend Stacey had arrived. They moved Logan out on to the landing to make more room for when the paramedics arrived, and together, they began CPR on Logan.

“This is when I lost the plot a little, and became very emotional. I remember my daughter being incredibly brave and looking after me.”

The decision was made to call for more specialist help and our crew of Critical Care Doctor Andy and Specialist Paramedics, Fleur and Mark were dispatched to assist.

On scene, the crew decided to place Logan into an induced coma to protect his brain from further damage. So they performed a pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia. Once stable, they were able to escort Logan to Bristol Children’s Hospital in a land ambulance where he was immediately taken for emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.

“I remember being scared to death, not only at home but for most of the day that followed. Logan’s dad and I were at the hospital all day until 3am the following morning when we were finally allowed to see Logan.” Logan has since been in for more surgery on his brain to remove abnormal veins, and nine months on from falling unwell, he was able to come and visit Great Western Air Ambulance Charity’s air base with his family.

“It was great to meet Fleur, who attended the incident and she loved seeing Logan and how well he’s doing. He got to talk to her about that day and how they helped him.

“Thanks to everyone’s actions that day, Logan is alive and well, with no side effects due to the quick response of the paramedics and the specialist skills that only your air ambulance team could bring. I am so thankful to everyone who helped us that day.”

Since sharing her and Logan's story, Sue wanted to do more to say thank you to GWAAC. She chose to donate some of her spare time by volunteering with us at her local GWAAC shop and at events. Find out more about volunteering with GWAAC.