March 2011 was a normal month and then our life’s changed drastically, a typical Monday evening turned into a nightmare. My then 11 year old brother Keiran was out playing on his bmx bike with some friends, in his wisdom he decided he would make and attempt a jump….sadly this failed, when his front wheel hit the jump, it broke sending him head first over his handle bars, instead of riding down the side of the lagoon, he fell…..He wasn’t wearing a helmet, his landing was on hard soil/grass and from a height of approx. 15ft… This was when he lost consciousness……..! A friend ran around to our house to inform my mum, Mum drove there immediately leaving me aged 15 with my younger sister lily aged 5. When my mum arrived Keiran was fitting, she immediately rang an ambulance, within minutes they were there, shortly followed by our dad.  The paramedics said it was urgent he got to hospital immediately, the quickest and safest way was going to be by air ambulance, within 15 minutes the air ambulance was collecting him and within 30 minuteshe was at Lincoln Hospital. At Lincoln he was assessed and scanned immediately and then placed into an induced coma, Keiran had suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) he had bruising and bleeding on his brain causing severe pressure between the brain and skull. Because of the severity of his injury he needed to be at a children’s hospital with a dedicated neuroscience department, this was identified as Sheffield children’s hospital, he travelled immediately via ambulance along with two paramedics, an airway specialist and an anesthetist. Immediately upon arrival at Sheffield Children’s Hospital Keiran had an operation to insert a bolt (Pressure monitor) between his skull and brain to monitor what was actually happening. On the Wednesday mum and dad were told by Mr Sinha (head of neuroscience) that he had to operate to save Keiran’s Life. The operation involved removing the front quarter (forehead) of his skull to allow the brain to swell relieving pressure, had this of not happened Keiran would have died. 4 years on, multiple operations and several hospital trips later Keiran is now living his teenage years like almost any other lad his age, the exceptions are that he has a ceramic forehead, a shunt (brain fluid drain) and a few scars but other than this he is the Keiran we always knew and is a very lucky lad.  Keiran had many talented selfless professionals look after him from start to finish, and without any one of them his journey and outcome could have been very different. The Air ambulance were instrumental in saving Keiran’s life, the speed at which he was assessed and transported was one of the biggest factors in his recovery, Major head injuries are all about time, if it wasn’t for them he may not be the young man he is today. Because of what they did for my brother and the amazing work that they carry out, Me and my Cousin Chloe have decided to take part in the 5k Colour run, taking place in Birmingham on the 15th August. We are doing this to raise money for The Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire air ambulance service. It will be a challenge for us but it wouldn’t be worth any sponsors if it wasn’t! Based at RAF Waddington the helicopter is fully equipped for almost any medical emergency it is permanently staffed with two paramedics and occasionally a doctor. It is capable of flying at speeds of just under 160mph and can reach any point of the two counties in less than 20 minutes. It requires 1.8million pounds a year to fly the helicopter and almost all of their income comes from the community so they need all the help they can get. 

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