Mum's anguish as Scarborough toddler who needed urgent care airlifted to hospital

Two-year-old Jayden Baron from Scarborough was rushed to hospital by helicopter.

Jayden Baron was just a few weeks away from his second birthday when he needed the helicopter trip to Leeds General Infirmary because he was struggling to breathe.

“Knowing he was going to get where he needed to be as quickly as possible made the situation easier for me,” said his mum, Louise.

“I hadn’t slept for 24 hours and was in shock when the helicopter arrived.

Two-year-old Jayden Baron from Scarborough when he was in hospital

“I was really worried about Jayden but the pilots made me feel that everything was going to be all right.”

She had taken her little boy to a GP when he started having difficulty breathing and the doctor diagnosed croup, prescribing steroid medication.

But the drug didn’t have any effect and at his bedtime, Jayden wouldn’t settle down to sleep.

“He became increasingly more agitated and was struggling for breath even more,” said Louise.

The Children's Air Ambulance which flew Jayden to Leeds for urgent specialist treatment.

“I was at home on my own, as Jayden’s dad works at night, so I rang 111 and they sent an ambulance.”

At the hospital, Jayden was given steroids and admitted to the children’s ward but his breathing did not improve and he was transferred to the High Dependency Unit.

Eventually, the doctors decided that Jayden’s little body needed to rest to help him recover so he was sedated, intubated and put on a ventilator.

As Scarborough Hospital doesn’t have a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit - which Jayden now needed to be in - the Children’s Air Ambulance was mobilised from its base in Doncaster to pick him up and transfer him to Leeds.

A road journey which would usually take at least 90 minutes took the air team just 25 minutes, and Jayden arrived in Leeds with his mum Louise and a team from Embrace, Yorkshire and Humber Infant and Children’s Transport Service – one of the clinical partner teams that work with the Children’s Air Ambulance.

The little boy was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and after two days was well enough to be taken back to Scarborough Hospital.

After another night, he was allowed to go home.

“It’s amazing what a quick recovery he made.

He wasn’t quite himself for a couple of weeks but soon bounced back to normal,” said Louise.

Now Jayden’s family are planning to fund raise for The Children’s Air Ambulance to thank them for the help they gave him back in February.

“It’s the least we can do after what was done for our family,” said Louise.