When Ash King came home sick from school complaining of a headache, the last thing her family expected was for the teen to be diagnosed with a bleed on the brain. Without the fast response from the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), who flew her the 170 kilometres from Moora to the Perth Children's Hospital, her mum Kym Reilly believes she may have died. Ash King with her care team at Perth Children's Hospital.
"As we got off the plane and into the hospital, Ash had her first seizure, and if we had still been in Moora, I don't know what would have happened," Ms Reilly said. Scans revealed Ash, who was 15 at the time, had an arteriovenous malformation that had haemorrhaged and needed to be removed from her brain, leading to multiple surgeries, including one lasting 26 hours. During 11 months in hospital and another six undertaking rehabilitation, Ash, with the support of her family and medical team, re-learned how to walk and talk.
Rescue mission For Moora teacher Erin McPherson, an afternoon of motorbike riding in December turned into a rescue mission when her son Gus failed to return to the group. The 10-year-old had ridden into a gate and broken multiple bones. "When we found Gus, we didn't know the extent of his injuries; all we knew was it was serious," Ms McPherson said.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service transferred Gus McPherson to Perth. "When the ambulance arrived, we were met by four local volunteers who were our guardian angels that night, who kept that hope alive th.
