Shropshire teenager praises emergency services for saving his life

Joshua Edwards was riding his bike without a helmet near his home in Lilleshall when he came off it, hitting the side of his head.

At first the 17-year-old thought he was fine, but quickly realised his injuries were serious when he started blacking out.

His mother, Helen aged 49, rushed him to Linden Hall Surgery in Newport.

When he arrived his condition started to quickly deteriorate - doctors were quick to call an ambulance as it was clear he needed hospital treatment.

An air ambulance crew from Cosford was sent to the scene by road because the helicopter had been grounded by bad weather.

He was taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital, but on route he deteriorated to the extend that the ambulance had to pull over so a doctor could administer a full anaesthetic.

When he arrived he was taken straight to the critical care unit, where doctors had been alerted before arrival.

The drama happened on Monday but Joshua has now been discharged and is making a full recovery at home, and on Friday Joshua went to the NEC in Birmingham with friends to watch comedian Michael McIntyre.

He says he now wants to raise awareness about the importance of wearing helmets when riding a bike and will be visiting schools to pass on the message.

The Wolverhampton College student said: "I don't remember much at all when I got to the doctors.

"I remember coming off my bike down a lane in Lilleshall and two ladies in two different cars pulled over to make sure I was okay - but I thought I was.

"Then I started to feel dizzy and sick, and I started blacking out, so my mother took me to the doctors.

"I don't really remember anything after that. I know I came round at the hospital about 8pm.

"I was discharged on Tuesday and I have just been told to rest at home, but I feel a lot better apart from some cuts and bruises on my face and back."

Joshua's parents have praised the quick thinking of the two Newport doctors, as well as the paramedics from the ambulance service and hospital staff.

David Edwards, aged 49 said it was "touch and go" at one point, but thanks to two quick thinking doctors, his son is now making a full recovery.

"When Joshua called me to say he'd come off his bike and needed a lift, I did the typical parent thing, where I thought he was making it sound worse and that he'd fine.

"But then we quickly realised it was more serious, my wife took him straight to the doctors, which is when they called an ambulance.

"I wasn't there but I was told he was lying on the floor in and kept passing out, if it wasn't for Dr Kinmond and Dr Henderson at Linden Hall Surgery, quickly calling the emergency services, it could have been a lot worse.

"The two paramedics, who I believe were called Paddy and Ben, were brilliant and they took him to hospital.

"But on their way there Joshua's condition started to deteriorate, so they had to pull over to give him more medication.

"When I arrived at the hospital in Stoke I saw them wheeling Joshua on a bed into the building - it was terrifying and its still quite upsetting to remember.

"They did not hang about, and he was given an x-ray which showed no serious damage to the brain, which is when we started to relax.

"Eventually he came round at about 5pm but went to sleep again, and then he came round at 8pm.

"This is when he started talking to us and we realised we had our Joshua back - which I don't know is a good thing."

Joshua, who is studying to be in the armed forces, says the whole accident has put him off riding a bike for a while, but he said he is lucky to walk away with only grazes.