Rory’s mother, Laura, recalls the moment when her seven-year-old son came off his motocross bike and crashed into the path of his competitors.
It was the last few laps of the summer championship at Hazeley Grange Motocross Track on a Sunday afternoon in September. With his performance in the previous four races over the weekend, Rory still had a good chance at making the podium – maybe even winning.
But just as Rory was making one of the final laps of the race, he came off his bike. Laura said: “Rory said straight away that he’d broken his leg, even at seven, he just knew. Normally, Dan, Rory’s dad, would just pick him up, put him back on his bike and off he’d go, but this time, Rory knew that he was badly hurt.”
Before anyone had a chance to get out to him, as he was laying on the track another racer accidently ran over Rory’s leg. Paramedics were fortunately on site, and Rory was given gas and air for the pain while an ambulance made its way to them. But as they were still in the middle of the dirt track, Rory had to be stretchered into the back of a car in order to access the ambulance. When he finally reached the ambulances, over an hour after the injury occurred, the paramedics gave him pain relief and attempted to realign his leg.
“We were shocked to hear that the charity relies on fundraising. They deserve so much more recognition and support for the service they provide.”
It soon became apparent that the painkiller wasn’t enough and that Rory was going to need the advanced pre-hospital emergency care of an air ambulance. Midlands Air Ambulance Charity were called to the scene. Moments later Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s crew touched down and rushed over to administer Rory a strong pain medication, ketamine, in order to prepare for the procedure. Laura added: “It was a traumatic procedure, but Rory really doesn’t remember the pain he was in, which is a blessing.
“The crew were so considerate and understanding, putting both myself and Rory at ease in a really traumatic situation.”
After speaking with Laura, the crew offered to fly both the patient and his mum to Royal Stoke University Hospital in Staffordshire – so that they could be near to home. An x-ray later confirmed that Rory had suffered a broken femur, and he went into surgery the next afternoon, spending a total of six nights in hospital.
Despite his accident, Rory still managed to achieved 3rd place in the 2024 championship. By the time Christmas arrived, around three months later, he was back on his bike, and the family are now getting ready for another motocross season. Laura said: “He had the all-clear on New Year’s Eve and the doctor confirmed he was fully healed. He’s now back to being a normal seven-year-old!”
That same December the family was invited to the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s Cosford airbase where the crew checked in on Rory and explained a bit more about what they do. Laura added: “We were shocked to hear that the charity relies on fundraising and doesn’t receive any funding at all for their vital missions. They deserve so much more recognition and support for the service they provide.”
