Schoolboy Lewis thanks medics who treated him after school accident

Thirteen-year-old Lewis Pratt had to be airlifted to hospital after slipping over in the playground at Fair Oak Academy, Rugeley.

Ambulance crews scrambled to the scene in May to help the teenager who was in agony after fracturing his femur.

Crews on the scene gave Lewis advanced pain relief and manipulated his leg back into place before airlifting him to the major trauma centre at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

Lewis needed orthopaedic surgery, which left him with a plate in his leg to secure his bones in position and resulted in a 12-day stay in hospital.

He then had to undergo extensive physiotherapy and was unable to return to school until September.

Now fighting fit, Lewis and his mother Karen Pratt visited West Midlands Ambulance Service's Staffordshire hub, Lichfield, where he was reunited with the paramedics who helped him on the day and received a tour of the emergency operations centre.

He also got the opportunity to visit the Midlands Air Ambulance base in Tatenhill, Staffordshire, re-uniting him with the crew and pilot from the air ambulance who helped him on the day.

Lewis said: "It's really nice to be able to personally thank everyone for all their help.

"I remember bits from the day, but not everything, which I have been told by the ambulance crews is probably a good thing."

West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman Suzie Wheaton said: "All of the ambulance staff were ecstatic to see how well Lewis is now doing and, given the serious nature of his injury, were pleasantly surprised that he was walking around without any difficultly."

The crews which treated Lewis on the day include paramedic responder Chris Lynch, ambulance crew Pat Griffin and Alan Nixon and Midlands Air Ambulance crew Ian Jones and Kat Ellis and pilot Matt Wood.

The air ambulance landed on the school's playing fields. The incident took place during the lunchbreak after Lewis had slipped over in the playground on a wet surface.

Midlands Air Ambulance operates three air ambulances serving Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands.

Each air ambulance mission costs £2,500 to complete and more than £6.5 million is needed each year to keep its three air ambulances operational.

Since 1991, the Midlands Air Ambulance has responded to more than 42,000 missions averaging 2,000 per year, making it one of the longest established and busiest air ambulance organisations in the UK.

To donate, go to www.midlandsairambulance.com