A GRATEFUL mum has praised airborne medics who saved her 11-month-old son when he fell seriously ill.

Maria Ellis, 32, from Staithes, near Whitby, was at home with her five children when her little Oscar, who has a twin brother Freddie, started having a convulsion.

“I was in the kitchen and had just put the kettle on, and then I went in the sitting room and Oscar was laid on his back and his eyes were glazed over," said Maria.

“I picked him up and shouted his name and his eyes rolled back so I rang for the ambulance and they talked me through what to do, and I put him in the recovery position. It was very traumatic. Oscar was shaking and shivering."

However the Great North Air Ambulance then arrived. The crew tested his blood sugar, and did some tests with the road ambulance crew who were there, and checked his breathing, before airlifting him to hospital in Middlebrough

Miss Ellis said: “GNAAS are just amazing, the crew were absolutely fantastic and they got him to hospital so quickly. We flew to James Cook and it only took about ten minutes and we were there.”

Oscar had suffered a febrile convulsion, most likely trigged by tonsillitis. Hi temperature rose up to 40C in the evening and eventually started dropping down in the early hours of the morning the next day.

He’s now back home and Miss Ellis said that Oscar is back to his normal “cheeky” self.

Last year GNAAS responded to over 900 call-outs and needed to raise £5.1m. To help, please visit gnaas.com or call 01325-487263.