A teenager who faces daily challenges due to a debilitating health condition was invited to spend a day at Huntingdon ambulance station.

Lucy Conrad, aged 14, from St Neots, was able to sit in an ambulance and have a look around the station and meet staff on April 9.

The teenager has severe epilepsy, which cannot be controlled by drugs. This has led to some developmental delay since birth and every day is a challenge for her, but Lucy and her family tackle everything head-on.

Lucy, who was accompanied by her mum, Debbie, and dad, Chris, has been rushed to hospital via ambulance many times during her life.

“I only remember one whole day when Lucy has not had a seizure,” explained Debbie.

“The ambulance service has played a massive part in her life and I forget how many times she’s been in the back if an ambulance. Lucy loves life and lives it to the full. Her ethos, and our ethos, is not what we can’t do, it’s how can we do it.”

Lucy was invited to Huntingdon Ambulance Station by Graham Hillman who is a senior emergency medical technician and Nick Hill, a senior paramedic, who gave up their free time to host Lucy and her family.

Graham and Nick were called out to attend to Lucy in February when she had a seizure. They said Lucy was interested in the work of the ambulance service.

Graham, who is based at Huntingdon, said: “Lucy is enthusiastic about anything blue light orientated. We thought it would be a nice thing to do to not only recognise her passion for the service but also we felt it would be a great way to help tackle any fears of being in the back of an ambulance. We hope we can give Lucy some happy memories in an ambulance during a time that can be quite distressing for her.”

Lucy had the opportunity to look around the ambulance before taking a drive around the car park. She sat in the front and wore a high-viz jacket and helmet. She was presented with a certificate to commemorate the day as well as a teddy bear sporting a matching high-viz jacket. She named the bear NHS Bear.

Debbie said: “Lucy had been looking forward to the trip all week and found it difficult to sleep the night before as she was so excited. The visit was so important to Lucy to learn that the ambulance service is not only there when she is poorly but for the community as well. We can’t thank them enough.”