Crawley girl reunited with ambulance crew who saved her life

Brooke Rowe, 12, from Ifield, was rushed to St George’s Hospital on the evening of June 21 after collapsing and falling unconscious at home.

The St Wilfrid’s School pupil paid a visit to SECAmb’s Make Ready Centre in Crawley with her parents Caroline and James to thank the team and present them with a canvas painting she had designed.

First to arrive at Brooke’s home was Student Paramedic Practitioner Paul West, who arrived on scene after just two minutes following her parent’s call to Emergency Medical Advisor Jacob Sanders.

Paramedic and Emergency Care Support Worker crew, Jennifer Caldwell and David Everett backed up Paul before Critical Care Paramedic Paul Crouch arrived along with Operational Team Leader Ben Relf, by which point Brooke had fallen into respiratory arrest.

The team set about resuscitating Brooke before further expertise joined them at the scene in the form of air ambulance colleagues Critical Care Paramedic, Ben Clarke and Dr Sander Manders.

The pair led on sedating Brooke, providing her with a pre-hospital general anesthetic before the journey to St George’s Hospital.

Following a five-day period of sedation at St George’s and further expert treatment, Brooke was discharged on July 2.

She is undergoing further assessment and treatment for the asthma she was diagnosed with when was seven, but has recovered well and is due to return to school in September.

Paramedic Paul West said: “I was on scene really quickly having only just come clear from a comfort break. I could see we were facing a serious emergency straight away and knew I needed back up. Everyone worked really well as a team to get Brooke the help she needed. It’s great to see how well she’s doing and I know we all wish her and her family the very best for the future.”

Brooke said: “I was very happy to go and meet everyone who helped to save my life. It was good to hear details about the night I fell so seriously ill because it helped me to understand what happened to me better.

“I was very nervous as I don’t remember anything from that night and I was nervous about meeting everyone. But I am very thankful because they were there so quickly. It was also lovely that everyone wanted to know how I was doing as it shows how caring they all are.”

Brooke’s mum Caroline added: “It was great to see everyone and it means so much to us as Brooke’s parents but also to Brooke herself to be able to say thank you in person. Thank you to every single member of the team. We’re so grateful.”