Funding thank-you for double lifesaver

Saurabh Sinha operated on the eight-year-old and a 12-year-old at Sheffield Children’s Hospital last year.

Owen Wilkinson, then eight, was rushed into theatre after a seemingly minor fall at his school in the Barnsley area in October last year.

He was taken to Barnsley Hospital as he started to feel sick but he had to be transferred to Sheffield after it was discovered his injuries were more serious.

Mother Caroline Wilkinson, a deputy headteacher, said while she was waiting at the Children’s Hospital with husband, Mark, they met another couple, whose 12-year-old son had also been rushed to surgery with exactly the same condition.

“What was even more incredible was that Mark recognised the other boy’s father from football,” she said.

The hospital opened two theatres so Mr Sinha and his team were able to operate on the two simultaneously, saving both.

Mrs Wilkinson said: “Saving two lives like that at the same time takes such a highly skilled and dedicated team and we thank them all from the bottom of our hearts.”

Both families have stayed in touch and Mrs Wilkinson said they are hoping to take the two youngsters out together at some point.

She and family have so far raised almost £4,000 to help fund specialist medical equipment for the hospital’s theatres as a thank you to the staff.

The hospital said the money will go towards new endoscopic instruments which will enable surgeons to perform neurosurgery through the nose rather than by cutting through the skull.

Mr Sinha is one of the few paediatric neurosurgeons in Britain whose team is able to carry out this kind of endoscopic transnasal operations on children.

Mrs Wilkinson added: “Mr Sinah is a very special man.”