Bedwas family raise money for 'heroes' that saved scooter-loving son after his eight foot fall

Ioan's mum said he had swelling in his brain and his skull was fractured in multiple places. Credit: Media Wales.

The family of a boy, 9, who nearly died following a fall outside his home, are raising money to thank those who saved his life.

Ioan Watts from Bedwas fell off his scooter and was left critically ill last year. His mum Lydia Watts said he fell down an eight-feet drop and landed on his head.

The accident left him in a coma for nearly a month, and six months later he is still recovering from his injuries.

Ioan has had to re-learn how to walk and talk since the fall. Credit: Media Wales.

His mum, Lydia, 43, said her son wouldn't have survived the incident if it wasn't for the life-saving work of the Welsh Air Ambulance charity and Noah's Ark Children's Hospital.Explaining what happened, Lydia said the family were getting ready for school and Ioan was "ready early because it was his brother Rhodri's eighth birthday".

"He went outside on his scooter and he fell. It wouldn't have been a major disaster but then he slid and fell off a ledge at a height.

He spent weeks in a coma with swelling in his brain and a breathing tube that kept him alive. Credit: Media Wales.

"I could tell something really bad had happened.

"He sat up and was briefly conscious, but when I got to him he had a fit, fell back and went unconscious."

Lydia said she went into "survival mode" and shouted for her husband Rich to call the emergency services.

She said paramedics arrived quickly, before the air ambulance crew took over.

"The air ambulance landed next to the house and saved his life."

There were about 20 medical professionals working on Ioan, according to his mother, while she and the family "stood in the corner in a daze".

Once Ioan was stabilised, he was taken to the Noah's Ark paediatric intensive care unit where he stayed for three-and-a-half weeks.

Doctors monitored Ioan's brain swelling daily, but rather than improving, the pressure continued to increase. It meant Ioan needed emergency surgery to save his life.

Lydia said that surgeons needed to remove part of his skull to relieve the pressure on his brain.

After the operation, doctors and nurses kept him at a cool temperature and laying him at an angle, in an attempt to reduce the swelling on his brain. However, he remained in a coma for around two more weeks.

The family has already raised more than £1,000 for medical staff that helped to save Ioan. Credit: Media Wales.

As soon as Ioan was breathing independently, he spent 10 weeks learning how to walk and talk again, before he left the children's hospital in January this year.

Lydia said: "We were basically living there from October until after Christmas.

"He couldn't speak or sit up when he first woke up so we didn't know if he was going to be bed ridden for the rest of his life, wheelchair ridden or incontinent or if he would ever speak again, but in November, his recovery was so astonishingly quick."

Although Lydia said the family feel incredibly lucky to have Ioan almost back to his former self, she said they still have a long way to go.

The family has been told it could take two to three years before the full extent of Ioan's brain injury is known.She said: "You'd think they would come around quickly like on the television and be groggy for a day or two and then fine, but it is a really, really long process. All those fractured pathways in the brain need to refuse back together and form new pathways. He is still changing every week.

"He is in school full-time now after gradually transitioning back and he needs extra support. He struggles with his attention span and impulsivity such as shouting inappropriate things out, which he didn't do before. He was always a very normal, shy, quiet and clever boy, and he is now very different."Looking back on the last six months, Lydia said the family feel a combination of "lucky and traumatised", adding: "It's going to take us all a bit of time to process it all".

Ioan will be running the Caerphilly 2k with his brother and around 30 friends from his school, to raise money for those that saved him.

He's already had more than £1,000. It will be split between Noah's Ark Children's Hospital and the Wales Air Ambulance.

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