The parents of a baby girl suffering seizures have praised medics from the Great North Air Ambulance Service for helping to save her life.
On September 27, 11-month-old Winnie Atkinson, of Brampton, was having her first sleepover at her grandparents’ house in Brough, with her older sister Ada, six, when she suddenly became unwell.
Her mum Olivia Brummitt, 30, and father Dan Atkinson, 28, were enjoying their first date night since Winnie was born, when they got the news and rushed to be by her side.
Olivia said: “We had a totally normal Saturday at home, Winnie had been playing Ada, and she was absolutely fine.
“Nana and grandad came to pick them both up for Winnie’s first sleepover at about 3pm and Dan and I got ourselves ready to go out.
“Winnie went for a walk in her pram with nana, grandad and Ada and then they went home and were playing in the living room.
“Winnie was playing happily then crawled into the middle of the living room, went completely vacant and then she started shaking and her eyes rolled back and she was having a seizure.
“Her nana called 999 immediately when she noticed she was vacant.”
The critical care team from Great North Air Ambulance attended the scene alongside the North West Ambulance Service to assess and treat Winnie.
Olivia said: “Without Great North Air Ambulance Service, Winnie might not be with us today.
“It took almost 45 minutes for the ground ambulance to get to nana and grandad’s in Brough and when they realised how serious her condition was and they needed further assistance there’s no way they could have waited for another ambulance by road. The air ambulance was there incredibly quickly once called.”
Winnie was experiencing multiple seizures that wouldn’t stop on their own.
The paramedic and doctor from Great North Air Ambulance placing Winnie into a medically induced coma, to stop the seizures, prevent their recurrence, and reduce the risk of brain damage.
She was airlifted to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough in 21 minutes. The same journey by road would have been at least an hour.
She stayed there for one night before being transferred to Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle to be closer to home and was discharged on Wednesday October 1.
Olivia said: “Winnie is really well in herself, still very smiley and happy. We are still awaiting her EEG and she’s on epilepsy medication to ensure they keep any possible future seizures at bay.”
Winnie recently celebrated her first birthday and her family have since set up a JustGiving page to raise funds for the Great North Air Ambulance Service, which is reliant on public donations.
Olivia said: “I think we will fundraise for Great North Air Ambulance Service for the rest of our lives now, we hope to continue raising as much as we possibly can.
“We can’t thank all of our family and friends enough for being so generous and donating their money for this cause.
“We know Winnie’s story has touched a lot of people and also made a lot of our friends and family think, wow that could be us.”
So far the family have raised £2,660 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service, surpassing their initial target of £200, and they recently visited the charity’s base in Langwathby to thank Great North Air Ambulance Service doctor Izzy Freshwater who treated Winnie.
Olivia said: “We’ve always known what a valuable service Great North Air Ambulance Service is living somewhere like Cumbria, but after what they did for our baby we are completely in awe of everyone involved. It’s such an amazing service that quite literally is the difference between life or death in so many situations.”
Their current aircraft are reaching the end of their service life, and they must raise £2.5 million to secure the deposit for a third new helicopter.
