Lucas’ Story

13-year-old Lucas Buckley was walking to the local shop after school when he was involved in a hit-and-run collision in north Cornwall.

Lucas had been playing football in St Teath with a group of friends back in October 2021 when they decided to go and buy some sweets. They were walking single file along the side of the road when Lucas was suddenly hit by a car.

The youngster was immediately knocked to the ground and some bystanders close to the incident shouted for help and called 999.

Mum Paula said: “We got a call from another parent saying Lucas had been run over, so we didn’t know what we were going to find when we got there. There were no more details other than he’d been hit by a car. Our hearts were in our mouths.”

Paula and husband Gary found their son lying on the ground with his leg at an awkward angle, so they knew that he’d broken it.

Cornwall Air Ambulance was tasked to the scene, with critical care paramedics Paul Maskell and Pete Storer on board your AW169 helicopter.

“It was really reassuring as being in St Teath, we’re at least an hour away from hospital. He was in so much pain, he was crying with the pain, so it was really reassuring to know they were coming and we’d get there quickly”, said Paula.

Lucas had broken both bones in his lower leg, one bone had come through the skin and gone back in. The crew gave him ketamine for pain relief and his leg was put into a splint to keep it stabilised before he was airlifted to Treliske.

On arrival Lucas was taken to the trauma unit where he had several x-rays on his leg. The decision was made to transfer him to Bristol Children’s Hospital due to concerns about possible infection.

Lucas underwent surgery and had a metal cage fixed to his leg to hold it in place. Five days later he had another bone set with a metal plate and four screws put in.

Lucas was in hospital for 13 days in total. Whilst there he received get well soon video messages from Liverpool football players Jamie Carragher and Harvey Elliot.

Following his incident, he went back to school for just a few hours a day in a wheelchair, then he moved onto crutches and returned full time just before Christmas.

Now over a year after the incident, Lucas is waiting for a third operation to have the plate in his leg removed. He is just getting back to football training with St Teath and is trying to build up muscle strength and fitness again.

Speaking about the Cornwall Air Ambulance service, dad Gary said: “It speeded everything up, knowing how highly trained they are, it was really reassuring for us knowing we had that support.

“It’s a good service, being down here; the amount of people who do rely heavily on the air ambulance, you never think it’s going to be you or your children, but the fact it came out and he got to hospital quicker was great.”

Mum Paula added: “Some places are so isolated, a lot of places are at least an hour away from hospital, I think it’s vital to have an air ambulance service. We were lucky with Lucas it wasn’t a matter of life or death. We’re very, very lucky down here to have it.

“Like us, you never know when it’s going to happen to you or your family. You don’t know what’s around the corner, and you never know if you’re going to need it.”

Lucas’ big brother Alex, who is 26, is now planning to run a half marathon to raise money for Cornwall Air Ambulance as a thank you.

You can help more patients like Lucas by donating to Cornwall Air Ambulance from just £5 per month: Donate – Cornwall Air Ambulance (cornwallairambulancetrust.org)

Lucas meeting critical care paramedic Paul Maskell, who responded to his incident