Reading mum saved baby from mystery illness as blood ran from his nose

Laura Turner still doesn’t know what caused her son Charlie to suddenly turn grey and go limp as she drove him to music group in September 2018.

Now Laura and Charlie are racing an ambulance to raise money for the 999 call handler and paramedic that helped her bring her son back from the brink.

“Charlie was completely fine that morning and started crying as he always did as he didn't like the car seat, but very quickly his cry sounded very strange and when I looked down he wasn't breathing,” said 30-year-old Laura.

“I got him out of the seat quickly and at that point he was grey and floppy. Initially I panicked as blood then began coming out of his nose and, honestly, I thought he was gone.”

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Laura’s instinct took over and, having undertaken a baby first aid course during her pregnancy, was able to lay Charlie down and begin rescue breaths.

The children’s speech and language therapist dialled 999 and the operator talked her through the next steps.

A South Central Ambulance Service crew and a Thames Valley Air Ambulance arrived within six minutes, stabilised Charlie and took him to Royal Berkshire Hospital where he was put on a ventilator.

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Charlie has since made a full recovering after being transferred to the paediatric intensive care unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for a week.

Laura said: “We don't fully know what caused this to happen as it was just out of the blue and all his tests subsequently were clear, though clinicians suspected there was a possibility he may have had some blood in his airway or lungs.”

She will compete in the ‘Outrun and Ambulance’ challenge this year alongside Charlie, which sees people take part in a virtual fundraising challenge to cover more miles than an emergency ambulance does in a single shift.

Charlie Green and mum Laura Turner from Reading

A Reading ambulance averages 90 miles in a shift.

Chief Executive of South Central Ambulance Charity Vanessa Casey said: “This is such an amazing story and it is lovely to see Charlie thriving and doing so well.

“A huge thank you to Laura, Adam and Charlie for supporting us through the Outrun an Ambulance challenge and we hope their story inspires more people to sign up.”

Anyone interested in taking on their own Outrun an Ambulance challenge can visit www.outrunanambulance.co.uk.