Mylo’s
life-saving
rucksack...and
endedup
inhospitalA miracle
my brave
boy is alive47
tears filling her eyes.
As we neared the road,
I spotted a helicopter.
It was serious.
‘Don’t think the worst,’ Carl
said, but I was already
scrambling out of the car.
Police and ambulances,
lights flashing, we criss-
crossed over the road.
Worried crowds gathered.
‘Where is he?’ I cried.
A cordon was in place, a
police officer stopping people
getting through.
‘It’s my son,’ I pleaded.
Then I spotted a car, its
bonnet and windscreen
smashed to smithereens...
Horror gripped
me – if the car looked like that,
what about Mylo?
My heart pounded, as
I scanned the road for him.
Then, seeing paramedics
kneeling on the floor, I spotted
my boy lying in the road.
‘Mum!’ Mylo wailed, seeing
me dart towards him.
He was as white as a sheet,
covered in cuts and blood – but
alive! My relief was euphoric.
Bursting into tears, he
strained his arms towards me.
‘It’s OK, baby, I’m here,’
I said soothingly.
The paramedics
moved him onto
a stretcher, and
wheeled him onto
the ambulance.
Luckily,
the helicopter
wasn’t needed.
I climbed into the
back with Mylo and
the paramedics.
Arriving at
Broomfield Hospital,
Mylo was taken
straight to A&E.
An X-ray and scans
revealed he had a
snapped right femur,
swollen elbow and
ruptured spleen. His
face and body was
cut and bruised.
But despite all
that, he had no headinjuries. Mylo was going to
be fine.
It was a miracle!
One of the paramedics
visited the following day in
hospital, and explained what
he’d found at the scene.
Mylo had been walking along
the road to school.
But, while crossing the road,
Mylo had been hit by the car.
He hadn’t heard it coming,
as he’d had his
headphones in.
Swept into the
air, Mylo smashed
right onto the
car windscreen,
before landing
on the road.
The car was
a mangled wreck.
Yet – somehow- Mylo had
managed to
survive the accident.
‘His rucksack savedhislife,’
the paramedic told us.
It’d cushioned the impact
between Mylo’s headand
the windscreen.
Looking inside his bag,
I found his lunchbox smashed
to bits, the crushed biscuittin.
They’d taken the blow!
‘You’re very lucky,’
the doctors explained– they
couldn’t believe it, either.
Though Mylo was lucky,he
had a long journey ahead.He
was black-and-blue and spent
two-and-a-half weeks in
hospital. He needed a painful
op to have pins inserted into
his thigh.
And he had physiotherapy
to get him moving around.
Eventually, he got there.
When Amber and Riley visited,
they burst into tears.
‘Are you OK?’ Amber asked.
‘I willbe,’Mylo
assuredthem,
evertheprotective
olderbrother.
Andsoon,he
wasallowedhome.
Threemonths
on,he’sstillin
a wheelchairbut
wehopehe’llbe
onhisfeetsoon.
Andhesuffers
nightmaresand
anxiety,nolongerwantsto make
thejourneyto schoolalone.
It’sunderstandable...itwas
a scarytime.
NowI wantto raise
awarenessof thedangers
of wearingheadphones
whilecrossingtheroad.
Mylostilluseshistrusty
backpacknow.
AndwhenI packit every
morning,I remindmyself
of howluckyhewas.
Thatrucksackcertainly
is a bagforlife.Mylo
still uses
his trusty
backpack
now
WORDS: BESS BROWNING. PHOTOS: SWNS.COM