Kit Fawcett-Pemberton, who at one stage was believed to be dead, has gone beyond everyone’s expectations to return to his usual lively self.What must be every parent’s nightmare began in May when Kit’s mother Vicky took him and his little sister Minna to play in her mother-in-law’s garden.
Spending a minute to play with Minna, Mrs Fawcett-Pemberton realised that Kit had disappeared and ran inside to search the house.It was when she reached the fence round the swimming pool that she noticed that the door, usually closed for safety, had been opened.
She realised that Kit must have pushed the door open when the latch was not properly engaged and he was lying at the shallow end of the pool under the cover.Jumping in the water and pulling him out, she pumped water and vomit from his stomach and called the ambulance.With her voice wavering this week as she relived that nightmare, Mrs Fawcett-Pemberton told the Jersey Evening Post that at that terrible moment, she really believed her son was dead.Ambulance paramedics Mireille Watson and Eric Rolland arrived within three minutes of the call and found Kit laid out on the lawn.
They immediately set about resuscitating him – vital and skilful work which was later to be commended by doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.Realising that there was no time to lose, Mr Rolland carried Kit to the ambulance, believing in his heart that there was little hope of his recovering.
‘He was clinically dead.
I thought, he’s had it, poor kid,’ Mr Rolland said.On the way to hospital the paramedics continued to give him oxygen and compress his tiny chest.
Kit’s father, Piers, alerted by his wife, had driven to the accident and emergency department, where staff worked tirelessly on the child to bring him back to life.’They worked on and on, and then some-one came and told us they had done all they could and were unable to resuscitate him,’ said Mr Fawcett-Pemberton said.Within minutes, however, staff told them that one more shot of adrenalin had led to a weak signal, showing that there was still hope.Signs of a miracle in the making continued during his treatment in intensive care in Jersey and then at Great Ormond Street, where the couple were advised of the possibility of brain damage as a result of the time he had been in the pool.But the little boy who lay in a hospital bed covered in tubes and surrounded by monitors was to bring joy back to his parents by starting to breathe unaided and responding further.On his return to Robin Ward, Kit was shown how to walk again by physiotherapists – who actually found it difficult to keep up with him.
A and E consultant Dr Andy Brett said that Kit’s fantastic recovery was a testament to the training, professionalism and teamwork of the paramedics and staff in accident and emergency and intensive care.Mrs Watson and Mr Rolland, who gave Kit such a good start on his road to recovery, said that their contribution was just one part of the whole series of treatments which followed at the two hospitals.This week, Kit’s mum and dad took him to the ambulance station to give the paramedics a special hug.Mr and Mrs Fawcett-Pemberton paid tribute to them and everyone who had treated their son, as well as friends and family who had supported them during the crisis.
In fact, Kit has become a welcome visitor at the ambulance station and hospital as a symbol that miracles do happen.Mrs Watson said that what started out as ‘a job from hell’ had ended with a wonderful outcome.
‘Kit’s recovery has lifted the whole ambulance station’, she said.
