Our boy owes his life to crew

11:09am Thursday 3rd July 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

THE mother of miracle crash survivor Mason Heal has spoken of the moment she thought he had died.

The seven-year-old from Chippenham has stunned doctors by making a miraculous recovery following the crash in May.

His mum Tanya Heal and partner Bob were in the family Land Rover Discovery with their children Bradley, 11, Todd, nine, Mason, seven, and Hanna, four, when a Bodmans coach crashed into the back of it in London Road, Devizes.

A nurse who was stuck in traffic managed to get both parents and three of the children out but Mason, who was travelling in the back of the Discovery, sustained life-threatening skull, forehead, cheek and head fractures.

Mrs Heal said: "It was the most surreal moment of my life - my entire body went into shock and I could not comprehend exactly what had happened.

"When the paramedics got to Mason they gave him a survival rating of just three out of 15 and it was then it hit me just how bad he was.

"You just feel helpless and pray that a miracle happens and saves your child - you would do anything.

"The paramedics gave him an emergency blood transfusion and then the air ambulance arrived.

"I am 100 per cent sure Mason would have died if it had not been for the air ambulance. As a family we owe them everything."

Mason was airlifted to the Royal United Hospital in Bath where he was taken into surgery immediately.

With severe head injuries, the surgeons said they would normally make small holes in the skull to allow the brain to swell following the impact.

But in Mason's case his head was fractured in so many places this was not necessary.

He was moved to the Frenchay Hospital in Bristol and then to the Bristol Children's Hospital where he was on a high dependency unit for several weeks.

Mrs Heal said: "I urge all of the Gazette's readers to support the campaign to save the air ambulance - they really do save people's lives."

Mason is now well enough to rejoin his friends at Kington St Michael Primary School for a few hours a day.

The school has chosen the air ambulance as its charity for next term.