“We can never thank them enough”: Hertfordshire family full of praise for life savers

Staff have been praised for their heroic actions after saving the life of a six-month-old girl who was given just a 20% chance of survival.

Lily Hicks was spending a family day with her mum and dad when she started to show signs of sickness. She was taken to hospital but discharged with a diagnosis of chickenpox, before being taken home.

However, her condition rapidly deteriorated and her parents dialled 999. Dad Rickie said: “Overnight, the spots on her back became dark and purple and she was completely unresponsive.”

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Stephen Cutler arrived and recalled Lily’s condition: “I saw Lily in her mother’s arms, lifeless, with glazed eyes and a really bad purple rash on her body. I immediately grabbed a glass to push on to the rash which confirmed to me that she had meningitis.”

He requested back up immediately who arrived in the form of Paramedic Jonathan Brownett and EMT John Caballero. Jonathan said: “It was clear that Lily was extremely unwell, the rash was a typical symptom of meningococcal septicaemia; quite frankly she was the sickest child that I’d ever seen.”

She was given benzylpenicillin, a lifesaving drug in this case, and rushed to Barnet General Hospital before being transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital where she made a full recovery.

Last week (1st December), Lily was reunited with her life savers who were amazed at her recovery. Jonathan said: “To see her doing so well and to be neurologically intact is nothing short of a miracle, the odds were stacked against her from the beginning.”

Rickie, and his partner Carly, had nothing but praise. He added: “Without a doubt they’ve made a difference to our lives; to say that day was scary was an understatement, it was the worst thing I’ve experienced. If it wasn’t for them, our lives would be completely different.”

They have since raised more than £12,000 for charity and will be taking part in a charity sky dive called ‘Jump for Lily’s Journey’. For more information visit: https://fundrazr.com/61AF3a

Watch a snapshot of the reunion here:

Published 10th December, 2016

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