Friday 16 June 2023, multiple teams from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance are dispatched to Tyler after he was hit by a car outside his school. He has sustained a catalogue of life-threatening injuries and is critically ill.
That day
15-year-old Tyler from Tidworth walked to school with his friends every day. On Friday 16 June 2023, he is walking by himself.
As Tyler steps out to cross the road, a car travelling between 50-60mph comes hurtling over a hill and crashes into him. The force of the impact sends him 25 metres through the air and onto a grass verge.
His mum, Hayley, is walking her two younger children to their primary school when her phone rings in her pocket. It’s Tyler’s school.
“I got the call that Tyler had been in an accident,” she said.
“It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
Hayley is on scene within five minutes and is horrified by what she sees.
“The Air Ambulance had already landed. There was a big white sheet up, but I could see paramedics and doctors working on Tyler, who was just lying there.”
Critically ill
Both of Tyler’s lungs have collapsed. If left untreated, it could stop his heart from beating (tension pneumothorax). The team perform a surgical chest procedure (thoracostomy) to relieve the pressure build up and reinflate his lungs.
Tyler also has severe damage to other internal organs, including his spleen, bowel and pancreas. His tibia and fibula are both snapped, and he has a severe head injury.
Specialist Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) Dolly is part of the team who responded to Tyler.
Dolly said:
“John, who was working as a solo CCP that day, had arrived first by car and was working with our South Central Ambulance Service colleagues to start life-saving airway management and splinting, while also getting him ready for our arrival.
“We landed in the field next to Tyler and it was immediately evident that he was very unwell. We worked as a team to give Tyler a pre-hospital anaesthetic, support his blood pressure and oxygen saturations with advanced medications and procedures, and provided him with a pre-hospital emergency blood transfusion.
“Due to his remote location, we flew him to the nearest major trauma centre for his onward care.”
As the team fly Tyler to hospital, Hayley is blue lighted by the police.
“The journey was quick. I was in this zone – in shock. Denial. I told the family about the Air Ambulance – they knew it was serious.”
Alongside his other life-threatening injuries, Tyler has a brain aneurysm. He undergoes a craniotomy (a surgical procedure to remove part of the bone from the skull) in hospital to treat it.
Recovery
Tyler spends the next six weeks in a coma and a further four-and-a-half months on the children’s neurology ward. After six long months, he is discharged home to be with his family.
They’re told Tyler will never walk or talk again. But, fast forward to October, Tyler mutters his first words: “Yeah”, “Mum” and “I love you”.
“Before actually speaking he also first hummed to his nan’s funeral song in April 2023,” said Tyler’s dad, Dean. “That was a precious moment.”
“I burst into tears when he spoke,” said Hayley. “It was just amazing.
“They said his injuries weren’t compatible with life. He was known as the miracle child.
“He just wants to walk and get back to his gaming. But he’s progressing. There’s something new he can do each week. I’ve got a lot of faith that he’ll get to where he wants to be.
“But without the Air Ambulance team and their interventions, he wouldn’t be here today. They saved his life. I can’t really put it into words how I feel about them.”
Dolly added: “I often think of Tyler and his family and hope that the care we were able to provide has given him the very best chance of recovery.”
Tyler’s seven-year-old brother, Logan-James and dad, Dean are preparing to raise money for us at our night-time 5K fun run, Dash in the Dark.
Dean said: “I hate to say it but without these guys, it would have been a totally different outcome. So I feel like we owe them a lot, and I will continue to support and fundraise for them at every chance I get.”
