“It was the scariest moment of my life, to see your child choking, unable to breathe.”
With these words, Auckland mother Kate recalls a terrifying medical ordeal that began unfolding at her home in the early hours of a Monday morning in May when her six-year-old son Louie suddenly went into a potentially fatal febrile seizure.
“He was going blue and gasping for air,” she says. “It was every parent’s nightmare, and it wasn’t until much later that I realised how bad it was. We nearly lost Louie that night.”
But Hato Hone St John paramedics’ response to Kate’s desperate call for help soon had Louie in Starship Hospital and out of danger.
Kate and Louie’s story (their surname has been omitted for privacy) comes as the Hato Hone St John Annual Appeal is seeking funds to help the organisation purchase major incident-response and life-saving equipment.
So grateful are they to the ambulance officers who attended Louie, that mother and son are themselves getting involved in the appeal with a fundraiser of their own: “Each year we host a fun party at our house to raise funds for a good cause and this year we want to do it for Hato Hone St John.”
Kate says the paramedics who tended to Louie were amazing. “They really calmed me down and I was blown away by how incredible they were with him. You could just tell they and doctors (at Starship) were put on this earth to work with kids and help them.”
But Louie’s s scare is not the only reason Kate has to be thankful – Hato Hone St John paramedics also saved her father’s life (and Louie’s grandfather) after he had a cardiac arrest while playing tennis just before Christmas last year.
“They have saved my son and my Dad - our family will be forever grateful. Having Grandad/Dad alive for Christmas was all we wanted, it was the best Christmas present we could ever have.”
Kate says she will never forget the night of Louie’s crisis. “He had the flu, was not sleeping well so we had him in my bed. It was about 3am when I woke up and noticed he was hiccuping in his sleep.
“When I looked closer I could see he was gasping for air. I tried to wake him but he would not wake and just kept gasping,” she says.
“After a while he did wake up, but was still gasping. Thank goodness the paramedics got here; they did tests and checked him over (and) confirmed he should go immediately to hospital as he could have another seizure. It was terrifying.
“It turned out he had had a febrile seizure ( an epileptic seizure that happens when a child has a fever) and was choking on his mucus,” Kate says. “If I had not woken up it could have been very different.”
A month on and Louie is doing okay. He is back at school and is keen to fundraise to thank the ambulance officers. “He is a very compassionate and caring little boy. I do feel like I have won the lottery with Louie, he was the easiest baby and has such a big heart,” Kate says. “We do a lot of volunteering and I have tried to teach Louie we should always help people around us.”
Hato Hone St John chief executive, Peter Bradley, says Kate and Louie know first-hand how important the emergency ambulance service is to their whole family and want to give something back.
He says the organisation is asking communities to fundraise with the theme ‘Light the way - your way’ and has a new online fundraising website where people can choose their own fluro fundraising activity “to help light way for those who need it most”.
“We use fluro from the light reflecting bright colours on our vests and ambulances and we are asking communities to help brighten up the month with some fun fundraising at work, school or with friends and whānau.”
Bradley says funds will go towards a new Major Incident Support Team (MIST) vehicle in Hawke’s Bay to help emergency teams reach people during extreme weather conditions and for 12 power supply generators for the hardest hit, most isolated communities.
“These extreme weather events were devastating for many across New Zealand and it’s critical we rebuild our communities and prepare for the challenges ahead,” he says. “We want to thank our fundraisers, partners and sponsors including our major partner, ASB, for their support with the appeal.”
Donations can be made to Louie’s fundraiser for Hato Hone St John at lighttheway.org.nz/louie or Hato Hone St John Annual Appeal at lighttheway.org.nz and at any ASB branch across the country.