Harrison’s story

In June 2025, three-year-old Harrison was a happy, busy, little boy – always on the move, playing sports, car-obsessed, enjoying nursery and embracing life with mum and dad, Van and Cam.

One Thursday evening, Cam collected Harrison from nursery in the sunshine, helped him to pop his helmet on and began their usual bike ride home.

“As we headed down the street, I called out to Harrison and told him to stop and wait,” said Cam. “He stopped, but he’d stopped too late and was out on the road instead of on the pavement.”

Before Cam could reach Harrison, a vehicle turned into the street and collided with the small boy.

“I watched the vehicle hit him and they disappeared together around the corner. My mind jumped to the worst: I thought to myself, have we just lost our son.”

Cam raced around the corner, not knowing what he was going to find.

Harrison had been hit front on and passed underneath the vehicle and ended up 20m along the road. Luckily, he avoided contact with the wheels and his helmet protected his head. He remained conscious throughout the collision.

“I found him beginning to sit up in the middle of the road and as I rushed towards him he saw me and reached out for me,” said Cam. “Because of his injuries, he couldn’t talk, so I carefully scooped him up and concentrated on maintaining eye contact and reassuring him, keeping him as calm as possible so the professionals could do what they needed to do.

“But it was a nightmare, it was terrifying.”

Harrison had been hit with such an impact, that he had suffered numerous fractures to his upper body. His jaw was fractured on both sides, both collar bones were fractured, his left shoulder blade was fractured and he had multiple vertebrae fractures. He also had numerous fractured ribs on his left side and a collapsed left lung. 

On scene, first aiders from the nursery helped attend to Harrison, until LAS paramedics were on scene. London’s Air Ambulance’s team was also dispatched, including Dr Anna Dobbie.

When we arrived, we found Harrison being looked after by LAS: they had given him oxygen therapy and were preparing to move him onto a stretcher. We quickly assessed Harrison – it was clear he had critical injuries to his chest and that he was also bleeding. We administered some strong painkillers, both to take his pain away and to help with his breathing, and started a blood transfusion. This is something only our team can administer on scene in London. 

We then expedited Harrison’s transfer to the nearest major trauma centre and placed a paediatric pre-alert code red call to warn them of his arrival. 

Harrison was taken to hospital in a road ambulance, where he remained for 10 weeks, most of which were spent in ICU and on a ventilator. 

“Our lives were turned upside down,” said Cam. “One minute we were home, healthy and happy and the next he was in Intensive Care, fighting for his life.”

Cam and Van both took the next three months off work and dedicated their time to supporting Harrison.

After several weeks in hospital and numerous treatments and interventions, it was determined that Harrison’s left lung remained collapsed due to severe damage to a section of the left main bronchus. To give him the best chance of saving his lung, his clinicians decided that open bypass surgery was his best option.

On 1 August, his surgeons operated for six hours to remove the damaged area and reconstruct his left main bronchus. 

Thankfully, the surgery was a monumental success. “After that major surgery, Harrison’s lung remained inflated and his recovery really sped up, a lot happened quite quickly,” said Cam.

Within a week of the surgery, Harrison was able to come off the breathing ventilator and then moved from ICU and onto the ward. There he relearnt how to swallow, so he could gradually begin to eat and drink again. Off ventilation, he was able to regain his speech and start to use his vocal cords. He also had atrophy in his muscles as he’d lost a lot of weight: he had to rediscover his mobility and learn how to walk and balance again, for which a lot of physio and rehabilitation helped him achieve.

Throughout all the hospital stays, Cam and Van stayed by Harrison’s side. Even when he was unable to verbally communicate, they reassured him, concentrated on being his advocate and held his hand when procedures and scans were distressing.

“Harrison gave us tremendous strength with his courage. We’ve always been a tight family unit and this experience has only strengthened that bond. We just appreciate everything, as we know how close we came to losing it all.”

In early September, Harrison was discharged home, where he continued to thrive and grow in strength and confidence. 

Come October, he returned to nursery, in November he celebrated his fourth birthday, and the family marked Christmas with a trip to Dorset. Earlier this year, they all travelled to Australia to visit family and friends.

“The fact that we were able to get on a plane and go see our family was incredibly special. It still feels surreal that we can have a normal life again, because hospital was our life for what felt like an eternity and we didn’t know how long it was going to be like that.”

Now, Harrison is his cheeky self again, soon to be starting Reception at school. If you didn’t know what he had gone through, you wouldn’t be able to tell: a recovery so miraculous and heart-warming, it perfectly reflects why London’s Air Ambulance Charity is so vital – ensuring families across London get the chance to make more moments together.

“What we’ve all been through will never leave us, we’ll carry that forever, but you just have to look at him to feel an overwhelming sense of joy. For him to be doing what he’s doing now is nothing short of a miracle,” said Cam. “Every moment we now have with Harrison is extra special, from seeing him reunited with all his family, to tucking him into his own bed at night.

“Words will never suffice, we are eternally grateful to all the teams that were involved with his care – starting with London’s Air Ambulance on the scene – that we’ve had the chance to get the outcome we could have only dreamt of.”

For another parent who may sadly find themselves in a similar situation to Cam, he offered some advice:

• Trust that your child is in expert hands and focus on being the best advocate you can be
• Hospital can be a daunting place, just take things step by step, even hour by hour
• Look after yourself so you’re best prepared to look after your loved one. Make sure to eat and sleep as you need that to function, especially over a long period.
• Draw strength from each other, keep putting one step in front of another and find the positives to keep building towards recovery.