A little girl from Perth who suffered an hour-long seizure due to a rare condition has been reunited with the ambulance crew who rushed her to hospital.
Young Penney McKain has Dravet Syndrome - a rare form of intractable epilepsy that begins in infancy - and in October 2022 she experienced severe convulsions aged just 15 months at the time.
Mum Joanne and dad Ross sensed this episode was more intense than usual and hurriedly called 999.
Crieff staff members, paramedic team leader Kerry Sweeney and trainee technician Scott Denny raced to the scene and transported Penney to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
Once they arrived at A&E they were already one hour into the seizure and Penney was quickly handed over to attending medical staff.
Mum Joanne said they are “forever grateful” to the “kindness and compassion” the medical crew showed Penney.
The family wished to reach out to show their gratitude and so a reunion was arranged for Penney’s parents to say thank you to the team in person.
Speaking of the incident, Joanne said: “On this occasion, my daughter’s seizure was still going after 30 minutes.
“When Kerry and Scott arrived, it felt like a weight had been lifted. Kerry listened to everything I said about Dravet as it’s a rare condition.
“This was the worst and longest seizure Penney has had.”
Kerry and Scott checked in to see how Penney was doing after her admission.
Joanne added: “At the hospital, Scott was friendly and was rubbing my daughter’s arm after she was sedated and talked to her, again treating her like a person not just a patient - they were an incredible team.
“They made a terrible and scary situation manageable and the amount of care and compassion, and actual love shown to us that day, was amazing.
“We’ve had many ambulance crews here and they’ve all been fantastic but that day was different and will forever stand out for us.
“It just seemed like more than a job, Penney wasn’t just another number.
“All paramedics and technicians are great but on that day we well and truly had the ‘A team’.
“To actually see them to express our gratitude, to not just them but the whole ambulance service, is really lovely.”
Paramedic Kerry said: “It’s been great to come back and see Penney, her vibrant personality is just amazing.
“It was lovely to hear the feedback from Penney’s parents. At the end of the day, we were just doing our job, but Penney was important to us and we wanted to give her the best care we could.”
Penney’s parents have expressed their grateful thanks to the Scottish Ambulance Service, the neurology team in Ninewells and the continued support from Dravet Syndrome UK.
Dravet Syndrome affects around one in every 15,000 people in the UK.
