An 11-year-old boy who was involved in a road traffic collision in Tunbridge Wells has been reunited with the ambulance service colleagues who came to his rescue.
Archie Malek was riding his brother’s electric scooter on 17 October 2023, near his home in Tunbridge Wells when he was involved in the collision. Archie, who was by himself at the time, was knocked unconscious and left lying in the road.
Multiple neighbours spotted Archie and immediately called 999, as well as alerting Archie’s mother, Meena. The first crew arrived on scene within three minutes of the initial call and determined that Archie had sustained a head injury and a fractured knee.
Archie was taken to Tunbridge Wells Hospital, before the Air Ambulance Charity Kent, Surrey, Sussex flew him and Meena to Kings’ College Hospital in London for further treatment.
Once regaining consciousness, Archie was unable to speak for two weeks, and spent a further two months in Kings’ College Hospital recovering, with Meena by his side day and night.
A few months on from the incident, Archie visited South East Coast Ambulance Service’s (SECAmb) Make Ready Centre in Paddock Wood with his mother and older brother, Riley, aged 13.
During their visit, Archie and his family were reunited with Operational Team Leader, Mitchell McQueen, Newly Qualified Paramedic, Eden McWilliams, Ambulance Paramedic, Jenna Harley, Emergency Care Support Worker, Oliver Broom, Ambulance Paramedic, Clare Bowler and Resource Dispatcher, Hanah Fright, all of whom assisted Archie following the incident.
After hearing more about Archie’s time in hospital and his diagnosis, both Archie and Riley enjoyed a tour of the Make Ready Centre from the team, where they learnt more about the equipment and tested the ambulance lights and sirens.
Archie is on his journey to a full recovery and is taking each day as it comes. Following on from the incident and seeing the care that was provided to Archie, Meena has decided to pursue a career in the ambulance service and is currently undertaking a training course, with the hopes of becoming an Emergency Care Support Worker in the future.
Mother of five, Meena, said: “Accompanying Archie to Kings’ in the air ambulance was the first time I had ever been in an aircraft. It was one of scariest experiences of my life, but I was thankful to be getting Archie into their safe hands.”
Meena said: “It was a tough time, but Archie is doing really well now, and he is here, all thanks to the wonderful crew.”
Archie said: “I want to say a big thank you to the crew who helped me when I had the accident. Without them, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Paramedic, Clare said: “It was fantastic to see Archie in good spirits. There could have been so many different outcomes but the fact that he was able to stand in front of us and talk about everything he has been through was extremely impressive.”
Dispatcher, Hanah said: “As a dispatcher, it’s incredibly rare to hear the outcome of a call, and so it was amazing to be able to meet Archie and his family, and for him to tell the tale!”