A MONTH before his third birthday little Harvey Thompson managed to undo the safety catch on his bedroom window and tumbled onto the concrete below.

The toddler, from Saltney, sustained a serious head injury and was whisked to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool by air ambulance.

The journey took 10 minutes rather than the 40 it would have taken by road – a factor that experts say prevented him from being left with severe brain damage.

Now Harvey is approaching his fourth birthday and his parents Michaela and Alex are hoping to repay North West Air Ambulance with a sponsored walk around Chester’s historic Walls.

Michaela said: “Because he got to hospital so fast it increased his chances of not only surviving but making a good recovery. If not for the air ambulance he would not have got there in under 10 minutes - it would have been well over 40 minutes by road during which time more damage would have been done to the brain."

It was only on arrival at Alder Hey that Michaela and Alex learned the nature of their son’s head injury, which included a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain.

Doctors said the little lad might not be able to walk, talk, hear or see, and may be prone to cerebral palsy, epilepsy and a personality disorder and might not even recognise his parents.

But amazingly, after a three month stay in Alder Hey, Harvey was allowed to go home with the only ill effect from the fall being a slight right-sided weakness, which is persistent.

Michaela added: “Without the air ambulance he would not have had such a good chance at recovery. They rely on public donations to operate; you never think it will be you or your loved one until one day it is.

"We can never repay them for giving Harvey a fighting chance of surviving and making such a good recovery but if we can raise as much money as possible to help them carry on with the life-saving work they do every day it will go some way to show our thanks to these wonderful people.”

Harvey’s walk will take place on Saturday, September 15, four days before his fourth birthday.

To donate money to the cause visit www.gofundme.com/sponsored-walk-arround-citywalls