Rio flies from Cornwall to London for life-saving specialist treatment and care

Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro > St Thomas' Hospital, London

290 miles

Rio’s journey began with a fight for life. Born eight weeks early and with complex medical needs, he arrived over 280 miles from the specialist treatment and care that he urgently needed to save his life. To ensure he could receive this life-saving care, we flew him from Newquay, Cornwall, to St Thomas’s Hospital in London, where a team of experts were ready to help.

This is Rio’s story, told by his parents, Adam and Milda.

A heartfelt thank you to Lia’s Wings

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Lia’s Wings for everything they have done for our family during one of the most frightening and uncertain times of our lives.

While on holiday in Cornwall, at 32 weeks pregnant with our 4-year-old son, Kai, we were hoping for a peaceful break before the arrival of our baby. The pregnancy had already been complicated due to issues with our baby’s bladder and kidneys, which required a shunt to be placed in utero at 25 weeks. The plan had always been to deliver at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, where renal specialists would be ready to support our baby with a catheter and monitoring immediately after birth.

Rio and his mum, Milda, at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, where he was born 8 weeks early.

The day before we were due to leave Cornwall, Milda began having contractions after a long walk. We went straight to the hospital and were shocked to learn she was already 4cm dilated and in labour. Everything happened so fast. Milda lost a significant amount of blood due to a placental abruption and made it to 8cm dilation before the placenta detached completely. With the baby’s oxygen supply critically low and his heart rate dropping, an emergency C-section was performed. Our son, Rio, had to be resuscitated at birth. It was an incredibly traumatic and terrifying experience — we came dangerously close to losing him.

Rio was immediately admitted to the NICU at the Royal Cornwall Hospital. Despite having never seen a baby with a bladder stent inserted before birth, the neonatal team did an outstanding job caring for him. However, we knew Rio needed to be transferred to St Thomas’ for further specialist care, investigation, and eventual surgery. We were extremely anxious about how he could make such a long journey safely.

That’s when we received an incredible call — the charity Lia’s Wings had arranged for a transfer from Royal Cornwall hospital to St Thomas for Rio, which involved ambulances and an air transfer, avoiding the stress and danger of a long road journey. We were overwhelmed with relief and gratitude. The specialist transport team they coordinated was exceptional: professional, compassionate, and meticulous from the moment they arrived to the moment Rio was safely handed over to the team at St Thomas’.

Milda and our flight team from Skycare after Rio had boarded the plane.

We are incredibly thankful to Lia’s Wings for removing one of the many burdens we were carrying. Their support meant Rio could get the urgent specialist care he needed without delay or risk.

Rio is now in the care of the amazing team at St Thomas’ Hospital. He’s already showing great strength, and although we know the road ahead will be long — with further monitoring and surgery — we are taking it one day at a time. He is a little fighter, and we are hopeful for the future.

Thank you, Lia’s Wings, from the bottom of our hearts. You helped save our baby’s life, and we will never forget your kindness.

With love and gratitude,

Adam, Milda, Kai, and Rio

On board the aircraft. Our flight teams are monitoring Rio - he did so well on the journey!