Little Aiden Henshall had to be flown 100 miles for lifesaving treatment after falling from a loft ladder while pretending to be Spiderman.
The four-year-old suffered serious head and neck injuries after scaling the vertical rungs to the attic, which was converted into a playroom for big brother, Charlie.
His devastated mum Laura, who was washing dishes, found him lying unconscious at the foot of the 10ft ladder after hearing a “thump”.
And although she never saw what happened, she is convinced her youngest son was “flinging a web” like his hero, when the accident happened days before his third birthday last May.
Mrs Henshall, 33, from Glencoe, said: “He’s convinced he’s Spiderman. When we tell him he fell, he says ‘I didn’t fall out the loft, I’m Spiderman’.
“I really do think he thinks he’s much taller and stronger than he is.
“No one saw what happened but we think he’s tried to follow his brother up the ladder, and I’ve no doubt he went to fling his web at the side of the wall, or something.
“But it hasn’t calmed him down at all. He’s got no fear.”
Aiden was unconscious for three days, had to be ventilated, was hallucinating and had eye and balance problems for months after the incident.
His devastated parents, who also have six-year-old twin girls, feared their son would never be the same again after initial scans showed bruising on his brain.
But following the quick response of paramedics and hospital staff, the tot has no lasting side effects.
He was initially taken to Belford Hospital in Fort William, where he was given a full body X-ray before being airlifted to the former Yorkhill Children’s Hospital in Glasgow.
Now his dad Jonny, 35, is fundraising for the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity to thank them for their efforts. He has cycled 100 miles over 12,250ft of hills.
Mrs Henshall said: “The paramedics and all the staff at the hospitals were just amazing.
“And we are so thankful that we got to take Aiden home and it wasn’t a lot worse. Had he fallen differently, he could have been gone outright.”
“It was only after he was home on his birthday that it hit me that it could have been a very different story, and I was in floods of tears. I think it’s going to hit us before his birthday every year.”
Mountain bike challenge
Jonny Henshall was so determined to thank the team that saved his little boy’s life that he embarked on a two-day mountain bike challenge this month.
The cycle along the West Highland Way mirrored the route of his Aiden’s flight from Fort William to Scotland’s largest children’s hospital in Glasgow, and involved riding over 12,250ft of climbing hills.
At one point it was so steep and rocky he had to carry the bike for nearly three hours.
The head green keeper has so far collected nearly £1,500 for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity.
He said: “We just wanted to give something back for what they did for Aiden.
“Speed was everything and the ambulance crew were there really quickly, and the way they treated him at the hospital was just brilliant. It could have been a lot worse. But he was home after a week and now he’s back to normal. We are so, so lucky.”
To support Mr Henshall’s fundraising effort, visit www.justgiving.com/Jonny-Henshall
