Below are testimonials from MedicAlert® members that show just how the MedicAlert® system helps to save lives.

When Jackie Perkins was told her daughter Asten had an allergy to peanuts she knew it was vital that as many people as possible knew about it. There was only one way to be sure that two-year old Asten would be given the right treatment if she accidentally ate a peanut or any peanut product. That was by registering her with MedicAlert®. Little Asten, also has cerebral palsy. All this information is included on her MedicAlert® bracelet. “I have more peace of mind knowing Asten has some protection through the information on her bracelet,” said her mum. “And I do know I would not feel she was safe without it,” she added.

I would like to thank you for all your work and to let you know that the MedicAlert® Emblem saved my son’s life. He is a second year HND Graphic Design student at Nene College, Northampton. Recently he collapsed with an attack of hypoglycemia and was rushed to hospital by his flatmates. The doctors could not get anything from him and they thought he might have been taking drugs, but soon they realised he was wearing a MedicAlert® bracelet and were able to contact The MedicAlert Foundation and save his life!

The bracelet has certainly helped me in the past, particularly when I had a rather drastic miscarriage with considerable loss of blood some years ago. On admission to hospital, both the ambulance drivers and the sister in charge of outpatients noticed the MedicAlert® bracelet and I was told later that because details of the blood group were easily available, this made a saving of some hours in my treatment.

Lyn Day, Joshua’s mother, discovered her son’s allergy when she first began to wean him onto solid food. He was fine until he ate some egg. Under her GP’s direction, Lyn avoided giving Joshua any egg based foods. However, Lyn received a call from Joshua’s nursery school informing her that Joshua was having another allergy attack. He had eaten some peanut butter that day which had set off the reaction. Joshua was now diagnosed as allergic to egg and peanuts and after watching Julie Friend speak on the T.V. programme, ‘The Time The Place’, Lyn Day contacted MedicAlert® and arranged membership for him. The MedicAlert® bracelet has brought her peace of mind knowing if she is not there, someone else will realise what the symptoms are.

LIFE-SAVING STORY from Ken Wright

The incident - a horrendous car crash involving Ken from Norwich - was as follows:

Ken was driving his car back from Dagenham, where he had just left a business meeting. He, along with his colleague, travelled along the A13 when suddenly, an on-coming lorry braked heavily which caused his cab to jack-knife. This, in turn, resulted in the entire rig being pulled onto the opposite side of the road - the side which Ken and his companion were travelling on. The lorry collided with their vehicle and he and his colleague found themselves being dragged along the A13 in a completely up-turned car. By this point, most of the roof and glass of the car had caved in and the two unsuspecting travellers were unconscious.

Eventually, the passenger came around and tried, along with passers-by, to help Ken. This proved to be an impossible task as the driver's door was jammed shut. The situation was becoming dangerously close to fatal, as Ken was bleeding profusely from the many cuts he had incurred - including head injuries.

All three emergency services arrived on the scene, including a helicopter from the Royal London Hospital. However, time was at a crucial minimum. As Ken was wearing his MedicAlert® Emblem, the medical professionals were able to save valuable minutes by easily ascertaining that he was a haemophiliac who was allergic to penicillin. This enabled them to airlift the driver to the nearest hospital with a specialist Haemophilia Centre.

Ken is adamant that the information on his MedicAlert® Emblem helped save his life. He says: “My wife and I offer a special thank you to everyone associated with The MedicAlert Foundation for without your input, things could have turned out so much worse.”

Ken Wright

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