Kate Young, her husband Duncan, and their son Griffinn are a happy and hardworking family who enjoy spending time at a cottage they rent in Bancroft. This year was no different, and in July, Kate and Griffinn were joined by her parents to spend another fun week together. The trip began like all the others, with a boat ride to the island the cottage is on. What this trip to the cottage had that the others did not was a trip to the hospital and a transport with Ornge.
 
July 21, 2025, was the first night Kate, her parents and Griffinn were spending at the cottage. Seven-year-old Griffinn had gone to bed and fallen asleep while Kate began to get herself ready for the evening. But before Kate could get to bed, she heard Griffinn become restless and decided to check on him. She called out to him, but got no answer and assumed he had gone back to sleep. A little while later, though, Griffinn had thrown up in bed.
 
“I got up to go clean things up and get him into fresh sheets and realized I needed some help, so I went and got my mom,” said Kate. “We realized that his eyes were open, and at first, my mom was like ‘he must be really asleep,’ and then we realized he’s not reacting to us, and the lights are on. We started calling his name and realized he wasn’t responding.”
 
It was at this moment that Kate called 911. Shortly after the call began, Griffin began convulsing. Kate and the local EMS then began to coordinate a pickup location. Kate’s father was on the phone with friends from another cottage who were on their way with their boat. The Young family piled into their friend Russ’ boat and began to drive to meet EMS at the marina.
 
“It was probably a 10-minute boat ride to get to the marina, so it was a chilly boat ride. They asked me to assess if Griffin was breathing okay,” said Kate.
 
Russ, the family friend, was a retired paramedic, and during the boat ride, he helped assess Griffinn’s condition. Russ suspected the Griffinn was having a seizure. When Kate and her family arrived at the marina, they met the firefighters first, who began to administer oxygen. Shortly after, the ambulance arrived and began to drive Griffinn to Quinte Health North Hastings Hospital in Bancroft. Griffinn was still experiencing troubling symptoms and had not come out of his catatonic state.
 
“I kept off my phone aside from texting with my husband and texting with a couple of friends. He was still seizing this whole time, on and off, never really going into recovery,” said Kate. “I think the scariest part was just not knowing if this was going to cause permanent damage, and what was going to happen after this, we didn't know.”
 
The ambulance arrived at the Bancroft hospital, and clinical staff admitted Griffinn right away and administered anti-seizure medication.
 
“Within 10 minutes of him being there, I had spoken to the doctor who said that because he had been seizing for so long, the plan would be to admit him to a pediatric unit at a different hospital once he had stabilized,” said Kate. “They chose Kingston because at the point of trying to arrange for the transfer, he was still unconscious, and Kingston has a pediatric neurology unit.”
 
The clinical team in Bancroft made a request for transport to Ornge. Through coordination with the Operations Control Centre, a helicopter was dispatched for Griffinn’s transport.
 
“They showed up about 3:30 a.m. and started doing their own assessment, and it was within a few minutes that Griffinn started to wake up. I remember Jack [Morrison] talking with him, and I was talking with Kaitlyn [Sass], going over the plan,” said Kate. “They were really great with Griffinn. I really appreciated that you could tell they’re well-experienced with kids. I was just so impressed with how calm and collected and just how focused they are on doing their job. They are able to keep everybody else calm by having that aura about them.”
 
The Ornge transport team then loaded up Griffinn and Kate into an ambulance to be transported to an awaiting helicopter nearby, which would transport Griffinn to Kingston General Hospital. Griffinn was awake, and the transport crew had a headset for him for the helicopter ride. Kate said she appreciated how the transport crew made her son feel included in his medical journey.
 
“I think the coolest thing [Griffinn] found was that he got to wear a headset and listen to the medical team on the helicopter talk – Jack wanted to be able to talk to Griffinn and ask how he was feeling – and Griffinn found it really cool to listen in to the conversation,” said Kate. “You know, adults who talk to kids like adults? They don’t like treat them like little kids. They treat them with respect. It was like that. So, I really appreciated that.”
 
Once at Kingston General, Griffinn was admitted and began several tests. Kate was joined by her parents and Duncan. The doctors told the family that Griffinn would need to stay for another 24 hours for observation to make sure he did not have another seizure. After a consult with the Pediatric Neurologist, it was determined that Griffinn had most likely lived with undiagnosed epilepsy and this time suffered from a Status Epilepticus, a seizure that lasts for more than 30 minutes, which can cause serious damage and be life-threatening. Griffinn had suspected seizures as a toddler, but there was no conclusive evidence about whether he did have epilepsy.
 
“The neurologist confirmed that what Griffinn has was Status Epilepticus, which is a true emergency. Learning about that in the hospital made me even more grateful for the help we got. Even just the fact that we were able to get flown to Kingston because it would’ve been a two-hour ambulance ride,” said Kate. “I felt reassured having that quicker travel time, that if he did have another seizure, we had highly trained help with us. That was like a shoulder of relief just to relax.”
 
Griffinn was discharged from KGH two days later and went straight home to rest and recover with his family. Today, Griffinn is happy and healthy and is on the same anti-seizure medicine that doctors administered at the hospital. He also now wears his medical alert bracelet.
 
Kate, Griffinn, and the whole Young family are grateful for the quick and knowledgeable response of the Ornge transport team from that day. We acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all the departments involved in this call that saved Griffinn’s life. The coordination from the Operations Control Centre, the medical expertise of the paramedics and the skill of our pilots.
 
“Jack and Kaitlyn were amazing, they were just like the other emergency responders we worked with. They were calm and confident with their job, and I felt really reassured the whole way through,” said Kate. “A huge thank you for being who you are and committing to a job that I’m sure is so scary at times, but is just so valuable in the moment when you need it. I’m so thankful that there are people who are invested in this kind of work and helping people in those extreme moments when they need their help.”

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