The 16-year-old boy who suffered a major epileptic seizure on board the famous Waverley paddle steamer has expressed his heartfelt thanks and admiration for the way in which emergency crews dealt with the incident on Sunday afternoon.
George Evans was unconscious for 35 minutes as a medically-trained lifeboat crew, coastguards and paramedics assisted him throughout the Waverley's journey from Skokholm Island to Milford Haven port.
“The first thing I remember was waking up and wondering where I was and what was happening,” sad George from his family home in Johnston near Haverfordwest.
“When I got to the hospital in Withybush I couldn’t remember anything about the trip on the paddle steamer. Now, 24 hours later, a few things are starting to come back, but it’s still very much a blur.”
George and his mother, Beth, were in a party of 14 family members, including his grandmother, who decided to make the journey on the Waverley as a Father's Day tribute to George’s grandfather who passed away in February.
“Around 40 minutes after leaving Milford Haven, my mother and I were out on the deck watching the puffins, and I told her that I had started to feel a bit weird as I was seeing stars," he said.
"We went downstairs into the restaurant where my grandmother was, and I felt I was going to have a seizure. Around ten minutes later I did, but it was just a normal one that lasted for around four minutes.”
George was diagnosed as having epilepsy just 12 months ago, with the result that medics are still assessing the levels of medication that he requires.
“Forty minutes later we were outside, near to the front area of the boat, and I began to feel awful," he added.
Passengers helped clear an area for George to lie down on a wooden bench, and the captain of the Waverley sent out an announcement over the Tanoy system requesting the assistance of any trained medics who may have been travelling on board.
“There were no first aiders with the crew but fortunately a retired GP was travelling with us, so he came and sat with George, held his hand throughout and made sure that he was ok,” continued Beth.
“There was also a nurse on board who came over to help us. They were both absolutely amazing, the way they were able to keep monitoring George and this helped me tremendously throughout the journey back to Milford Haven.
"The most annoying thing is that I didn’t have a chance to find out who that amazing GP was, so if anybody knows who it may have been, we’d love to get in touch to thank him for everything he did for George.”
George was also assisted by the Angle lifeboat's medically trained crew and, once the paddle steamer docked in Milford, he was carried onto a waiting ambulance by coastguards carrying a stretcher.
He was then taken to Withybush Hospital and was discharged later on Sunday evening.
“I’m pretty much back to normal today (Monday), even through I’m still feeling a bit tired after everything that happened," he said.
But this isn’t going to stop me from doing what I love the most, which is water sports. I’m doing some work for Paddle West over the holidays, and we’re off on a mackerel fishing trip on Thursday.
“I’m so, so grateful for the amazing way that everyone handled my seizure on Sunday – the lifeboat crew, the coastguards, the paramedics, the GP and nurse who happened to be on board – they were all incredible. We’re so fortunate to have people like this who do everything they can to help us.”
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