An eight-year-old boy has been appointed as a Young Ambassador for a charity which helped to save his dad's life.

Max Phillips, from Rainham, has been given the position at Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS).

His dad Giles suffered from an aortic dissection, a potentially fatal tear in the aorta, when he was at home in November 2020.

KSS came to the scene and initiated treatment before transporting him to King’s College Hospital alongside ambulance crews.

His blood pressure and heart rate had dropped to a dangerously low level.

Since then, Giles has made a full recovery and the family have visited KSS in Rochester and met doctors and paramedics to find out more about the charity.

Sarita Taneja, patient and family aftercare manager at KSS, said: "It has been an absolute pleasure to get to know Max and his family.

"As soon as we met Max at our Rochester base, we knew he had the kindness and enthusiasm to make a perfect Team KSS Young Ambassador. We were over the moon when he said he would be happy to join us.

"Our Young Ambassadors have an important role to play in helping the community understand more about what we do and our vision to end the preventable loss of life from medical emergencies.

"These incredible young people inspire support, which is critical as we rely on the generosity of our supporters for 87% of the £16.6m it costs each year to operate our service."

He joins a team of seven other young people who represent KSS and help to raise awareness of its work.

Last year KSS had its busiest year in its 33-year history, and responded to 3,224 incidents – 64% of these were by helicopter and 35% by rapid response vehicle.

They can reach any part of Kent, Surrey and Sussex in under 30 minutes.

Max’s first role will be to join other Young Ambassadors, former patients, volunteers and staff to sign thank you cards which will be sent to some of KSS’s supporters.

He said: "I hope I will also be able to meet and help other children who have had similar experiences to me.

"I am looking forward to being involved and meeting the other Young Ambassadors and learning more about KSS."