A 10-year-old boy from Staplehurst, Kent, has been reunited with the ambulance crew who transported him to King’s College Hospital following a shock cancer diagnosis on Christmas Day 2023.
Jamie Hough, who was just eight at the time, had been suffering from painful migraines for four months. After multiple visits to hospital, it was on Christmas Day that doctors at Maidstone Hospital identified abnormalities on Jamie’s brain.
Crewmates Eliza Mason and Fred Hurley were dispatched to provide an urgent blue light transfer for Jamie and his mum, Ania, to King’s College Hospital, where a specialist team was on standby to operate.
Jamie went on to have four major brain surgeries during a five-week stay at King’s, followed by intensive cancer treatment. Since that difficult day, Jamie’s mum has been determined to find the crew who comforted her and her son during the emergency transfer.
After tracking them down, Jamie and his parents visited the Paddock Wood Make Ready Centre on 23 June to reunite with Eliza and Fred. The team were thrilled to hear how Jamie is doing now and about his excitement at starting secondary school.
“The team that transported us was absolutely amazing, and I will never forget Eliza and Fred,” said Ania. “Their kindness and the way they supported and reassured me during those terrifying moments will stay with me forever.”
Eliza said: “Seeing Jamie again, smiling and full of energy, was just incredible. When we met on Christmas Day 2023, it was an extremely tough day for him and his family, so to now see him doing so well is honestly the best part of this job.”
Fred added: “It’s not often we get to find out what happens to the people we help and hearing how brave Jamie’s been and how far he’s come was very humbling.”