Powys: Llanidloes family may move if Welshpool Air Ambulance base closes

Six-month-old Sebastian Lovell has Haemophilia type A, and is one of roughly 900 people in Wales who suffer from these kinds of bleeding condition.

Mum Bryony Coles says that the increased response time if the base closes could force the family to move away from their Llanidloes home. The Wales Air Ambulance has said a full consultation would be carried out before any such move, and that it is using "world-leading" analysis to drive its decisions on its future.

Sebastian’s condition means that his blood does not clot and therefore small knocks can lead to severe internal bleeding.

He also needs a special bolus injection to be ready in case of emergency – which regular ambulance staff are not trained to use.

It also means he will need a very quick response time were he injured.

Wales Air Ambulance. Picture by Kerry Evans

“Depending on where on the body and the severity of the bleed depends on how fast he will need treatment,” said Bryony.

“A small bleed, something that would normally be a bruise on a normal child, will be a bleed here and that would be fine to travel the hour to the local hospital.

“Something like falling down the stairs. You’re talking minutes. 10 max before things can start becoming life-threatening.

“Head injuries are tricky. As depending on the force he hits his head, it’s the same thing 10 minutes to an hour.”

According to Byony, the situation without the Mid Wales base is very risky: “As there is a limited number of ambulances here. If we couldn’t get anyone out he would bleed out internally which is a huge concern in the winter, as often the north air base is grounded due to high winds.

“The Llanidloes ambulance service also only runs until midnight. If, say, he climbed his cot for example and hit his head at 2am, like many children do, we’d be stuck waiting hours for an ambulance from Shrewsbury or Wrexham. In the meantime, our son could end up with a bleed on the brain and be left with irreversible damage.”

Issues like this are set to become more of a risk as Sebastian becomes mobile and Bryony says the news of the potential of the Welshpool base has left her feeling rocked.

“I feel anxious, concerned, worried, heartbroken," she added.

“We moved back here to give our son the childhood we had growing up, filled with nature. But it feels like the area we grew up in and its people has been neglected and forgotten. School closures, still no major hospital in mid Wales and now the air ambulance closure.”

Bryony and her partner moved back to the area after living in Essex and she says now they are having to “pretty seriously” considering leaving if the service leaves as Bryony doesn’t drive and his dad travels regularly for his job – meaning the wait time to get to a specialist would be dangerously long.

She says she hopes the Wales Air Ambulance does not go ahead with the closure, adding: “This move will cost the lives of so many. With fewer and fewer ambulances and harsher winters, more of us here will succumb to our injuries.

“What’s the one main thing your taught about a stroke? Time. Time saves lives. It saves the brain. Time is of the essence for so many medical conditions. This move means more time lost and with it more loved ones.”