Shropshire Star

Emotional reunion for air ambulance crew and youngster airlifted after collapsing at Telford trampoline park

A Shropshire schoolboy who was airlifted to hospital after he collapsed at a Telford trampoline park has been reunited with air ambulance crew who helped save his life.

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Denzel, 8, pictured with the aircraft that flew him to hospital when he collapsed at a Telford trampoline park last year

Denzel Nafrue, then seven, was attending a friend's birthday party at the trampoline park, Airea51 in Telford, on Sunday, April 16, last year when he suddenly collapsed.

He was rushed by air ambulance to Royal Stoke Hospital, before being transported by land ambulance to Birmingham Children's Hospital the following day.

There, the youngster, who was living at Tern Hill near Market Drayton at the time, remained in a coma for around a week.

Tests revealed Denzel had CPVT, a rare condition that can cause arrhythmias - also known as abnormal heart rhythms - that can be brought on by physical activity.

After seven weeks in hospital, Denzel was sent home, and now aged eight, he has been fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), that will shock his heart when it picks up abnormal rhythms.

Denzel Nafrue, 8, Chris Brooke (critical care paramedic), Matt Rowley (critical care doctor) and pilot, John Darlow.

Eight months on, his mother, Mary Nafrue, reflected on that terrifying day.

"I'd just dropped him off for his friend's birthday party and we went to go get some food," she said. "It had only been about 10 minutes since we left and I got a phone call saying 'Mary, you need to get here now'.