A sweet reunion for Maddie
Hartlepool youngster Maddie Metcalf had a special way of saying thank you to the ambulance crew who helped save her grandfather’s life.
A couple of days after he was taken into hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest, eight year-old Maddie spotted someone in a local shop wearing a North East Ambulance Service uniform – and decided to buy him some sweets.
Maddie’s mum Janine said: “We had just visited dad earlier that afternoon. When she spotted the uniform she said: ‘Maybe he’s the one who helped grandad. Can I buy him something?’
“She came back with three packets of sweets and bold as anything went up to the ambulance man and gave him the sweets. He was wonderful – he said he might not have been involved but he would make sure they went to the right people. Maddie’s very kind and always makes sure she thanks people.”
Maddie and her grandad Gordon were reunited with the North East Ambulance Service crew who answered the 999 call – paramedic Alexa Gibbin and clinical care assistant Abid Ishaq.
Janine added: “It was very emotional for everyone to meet up with the crew who helped dad. They hardly recognised him because he was so poorly on the day and has made such a wonderful recovery. The crew said they were just doing their job, but for us it means we still have our dad and grandad. They are an absolute credit to their profession. I hope they realise the difference they have made.”
Janine’s father Gordon, 74, was close to dying. Janine said: “He was feeling unwell and was getting progressively worse during the day. In the early hours he was taken particularly poorly and that’s when my mother phoned for an ambulance.
“They took him to North Tees. He was so ill that they said close family should come to the hospital. Along with the ambulance crew, the team at North Tees were fantastic.”
Alexa said: “it was very special for Abid and I to meet Maddie and her grandad.
“We never expect to be thanked –but it was such a kind gesture by Maddie to buy one of our colleagues some sweets as a thank you.”
Notes to editors
For more information, contact the NEAS press office on 07559 918672 or email publicrelations@neas.nhs.uk
Attached are photos of the reunion .
About North East Ambulance Service
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (NEAS) covers 3,200 square miles across the North East region. It employs more than 2,600 staff and serves a population of 2.7 million people by handling all NHS111 and 999 calls for the region, operating patient transport and ambulance response services, delivering training for communities and commercial audiences and providing medical support cover at events.
In 2017/18 the service answered over 1.4 million emergency 999 and NHS 111 calls, responded to 280,00 incidents that resulted in a patient being taken to hospital, treated and discharged 27,000 patients with telephone advice and treated and discharged over 100,000 patients at home. In the same year, clinical crews responded to 126,746 of our highest priority patients within the national targets and scheduled care crews completed almost 580,000 patient transport journeys.