Southern Downs boy Cooper Prior meets Toowoomba LifeFlight heroes after horror Yelarbon crash

A Southern Downs boy, who is lucky to be alive following a horrific motorcycle crash, has thanked the medical team who saved his life. See the heartwarming video of the reunion here.

A Southern Downs boy who almost died after crashing his new motorbike in late 2023 has been reunited with the men who saved his life.

Eleven-year-old Cooper Prior was riding in his Yelarbon backyard in September when the heart-stopping crash occurred.

Cooper’s mother Helen said she and her husband heard Cooper’s bike stop, and when they raced behind their sheds they found their little boy on the ground next to the bike.

“He’d just had his first ride, it was a bigger motorbike and he was just doing figure eights past the house at home, going backward and forwards – he just rode past us, we were sitting at the back gate and he’s gone past us behind the sheds,” she said.

“If it wasn’t for LifeFlight, my son would have died … without them, Cooper’s story would have been totally different.

“He’s almost made a full recovery. And he should make a full recovery in time.”

From left to right: RACQ LifeFlight Co-Pilot Nick McDonald, RACQ LifeFlight Critical Care Doctor David Wedgwood, Cooper Prior, Cooper Prior, RACQ LifeFlight Pilot David Hampshire, RACQ LifeFlight Co-Pilot Andrew Caldwell. Picture: LifeFlight

Despite wearing full protective equipment including a helmet, boots, a chest pad, a long-sleeved shirt and motorbike pants, Cooper was in a critical condition.

A LifeFlight spokeswoman said Cooper had two brain bleeds, an injured neck, cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and a compound femur fracture.

Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics arrived on scene first and worked on Cooper for an hour before he was stable enough to fly.

When Cooper had the opportunity to meet the crew who cared for him, he said, “thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for saving my life”.

Cooper told the heroes RACQ LifeFlight critical care doctor David Wedgwood, pilot David Hampshire, and co-pilots Nick McDonald and Andrew Caldwell he was happy to be alive but devastated to be taken off the footy field for a year while recovering.

“I’m not allowed to play footy which is a big impact,” Cooper said.

From left to right: RACQ LifeFlight Co-Pilot Nick McDonald, RACQ LifeFlight Critical Care Doctor David Wedgwood, Cooper Prior, Helen Prior (Cooper's mother), RACQ LifeFlight Pilot David Hampshire, RACQ LifeFlight Co-Pilot Andrew Caldwell. Picture: LifeFlight

“But I’m very, very grateful. LifeFlight does a really amazing job, they save lots and lots and lots of people.

“They got me to Brisbane right on time.”

Critical care doctor David Wedgwood said he was deeply concerned for Copper given his extensive injuries.

“It’s such a wonderful experience being able to meet someone that we were really worried about who was reasonably sick when we got there,” Dr Wedgwood said.

“And seeing his outcome is absolutely incredible. It’s not an understatement to say that without LifeFlight, I don’t think Cooper would be alive today.

“He would not have had anywhere near as good of an outcome from a brain perspective as what he’s had today.

“It just makes me quite proud of the achievements that we’ve been able to have with Cooper.

“Excited that we can work in this kind of environment, in this kind of job and to see the impacts that we’ve had on people like that. Yeah, it’s really heartwarming.”

Originally published as Southern Downs boy Cooper Prior meets Toowoomba LifeFlight heroes after horror Yelarbon crash