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How the 'crash baby' survived

from Cathy (cathyvpreece@aol.com)

How the 'crash baby' survived

by Emma Griffiths

BBC News Online, London

While other mothers are collecting photos, Fiona Wallace Carville is adding press cuttings and news tapes to her baby's keepsakes.

At six months old, Cameron is a happy, healthy boy who likes to crawl across the living room at the family home in Eastbourne, Sussex. But on 10 February he was caught up in a bizarre accident in Kennington, south London, which nearly killed him.

Seriously ill with a heart defect, he was being transferred to Guy's Hospital when his ambulance collided with a police car on a 999 call.

It is thought to be the only case investigated by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) involving two emergency vehicles on separate calls.

Cameron's heart stopped as the ambulance was thrown onto its side and some of the drips and tubes stabilising him were ripped out.

He was thrown clear of the ambulance and it was several minutes before someone found him.

"He had a huge dent in his head and was covered in blood," said Mrs Wallace Carville.

"He looked a mess and I looked over at Steve [Cameron's father] and shook my head. "I said I didn't think there was any chance he could be alive."

But Cameron's nurse and doctor, who were also injured in the crash, were able to start his heart beating again and he was taken to King's College Hospital trauma unit.

A CAT scan showed he had a fractured skull and bruising to the brain, but would not need surgery for his injuries.

But it meant the team at Guy's could not operate for another two weeks on his heart.

'Taking our baby home'

"It was already the worst thing that could happen to us when he had the heart defect, then it got worse. It was surreal," said Mr Carville.

Cameron had been diagnosed with transposition of the great arteries, which stopped oxygen circulating around his body properly.

The couple and their daughter, Sorcha, aged two, moved into Ronald McDonald House at Guy's, a charitable institution for parents in their position, while they waited to see if the surgery was successful.

"I think it was over a couple of days or so [after the operation] before we thought we had a chance of taking our baby home and being all right," said Fiona.

Now six months on, Cameron appears to have survived relatively unscathed and his parents say people enjoy hearing the "crash baby" is well.

He has a scar on his chest from the heart surgery, a small red mark and a slight dent on his forehead and some problems breathing through his nose. The PCA has now completed its investigation into the crash and passed its findings to the Metropolitan Police who will decide whether further action is necessary.

But Cameron's parents are determined to look forward.

"It's just an awful period of our lives that we feel so lucky to have come through so relatively unscathed," said Mrs Wallace Carville.

"He's such a lovely and healthy baby, we feel blessed, especially because the operation he's had was a one-off. Some [heart defects] require three or four operations."

She has been collecting some of the press cuttings and tapes from the night of the accident so when he's old enough to understand, he can read for himself what happened.

"He may still have a mark on his head and it's important for him to know what he went through when it is appropriate, when he starts to ask we can say: 'Have a look'.

"It's not often you are a major news story."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/london/3147243.stm
Published: 2003/08/13 13:02:46 GMT
© BBC MMIII

(posted 7533 days ago)

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