A fire chief who has dedicated his career to saving lives spoke out about the devastation he endured after his son sustained life-threatening injuries in a road accident.

Jim Scott had attended numerous road traffic collisions over his 29-year career and worked through some of the most challenging conditions to free casualties from wreckages and get them to safety.

But nothing prepared him for the shocking news he received more than three years ago.

On October 23, 2015 the father-of-two received a phone call telling him that his teenage son, Adam, had sustained near-fatal injuries after crashing his motorbike.

Mr Scott, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s local senior officer for Ayrshire, recalled: “The time and date are stamped into my head. October 23 at twenty two minutes past four - that’s the time I took the call. I was in the office. My first thought was: ‘Is this really Adam - has it really happened to him?' as he was meant to be at work."

During a break from work, Adam had gone round a bend and came off his motorbike and had collided with a metal pole.

He sustained severe injuries and was rushed to Ayrshire’s Crosshouse Hospital, where he was placed into an induced coma – leaving his father heart-broken.

Mr Scott, 52, of South Ayrshire, revealed: “I’ve attended numerous accidents and seen all forms of trauma, but to see your own flesh and blood lying there… nothing can prepare you for that. I’ve witnessed families being told about their loved ones, but when it’s one of your own…”

He added: “Adam had a diffuse brain injury because of the impact of the accident. The police confirmed he hadn’t been travelling too fast, but his head had collided with a metal pole. This rendered him unconscious. He also suffered a punctured lung, broken jaw and a fractured eye socket.”

Adam was later transported to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Specialists lifted the seventeen-year-old’s sedation to bring him out of his induced coma, but his condition failed to improve.

Mr Scott recalled: “Adam wasn’t showing any signs of coming out his coma – and there was significant concern for his medical condition. He was effectively being kept alive by machines, then remained in a coma when he was eventually taken off his ventilator.”

But, after a month of hell, the family was stunned when Adam miraculously pulled through.

Mr Scott said: “Myself and Adam’s brother, Cameron, went to see him one day and I can still vividly recall what happened. I said to him, as I always did, ‘Hi son, how are you doing?’ The faintest voice came back with: ‘I’m fine.’ We stopped and looked at each other, asking ourselves if we had just heard that. That was the day he started to come back – the day the lights started to come back on. We couldn’t believe it. I’ll never forget that moment – I wasn’t sure if I would ever hear my son’s voice again before that.”

However, the extent of the damage remained unclear.

Mr Scott and others placed family photos around Adam’s room to try and stimulate his brain. He was eventually able to pinpoint most names. He then underwent extensive physical therapy and was eventually released from hospital a few days before Christmas.

Mr Scott described Adam’s release as “the best Christmas gift ever.”

“Six weeks before that we didn’t know if we would have a funeral to deal with and now we were celebrating Christmas together. I’m very proud, but I also feel fortunate, and a bit guilty. I’ve got my son back, but I know only too well that there are others out there who aren’t so lucky - and I saw this during our daily trips to hospital."

Since his release Adam has excelled both academically and professionally. He recently collected his HND from Ayrshire College.

Looking back at the most traumatic experience of his life, Mr Scott says he is eternally grateful to the medical staff who helped care for his son.

However, special thanks is reserved for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and its staff. He said: “The biggest thing that got me through that period was my other family… my fire service family. The support was immense from close friends and colleagues. I’ll be forever grateful to them.”

Mr Scott is now using his own experience to even more ardently than before to stress the importance of road safety.

He highlighted the importance of initiatives like Biker Down, which equips motorcyclists with potentially-life saving skills and guidance.

He said: “Adam was out with a work colleague when the accident happened and I think that colleague saved Adam’s life. He was ahead of Adam and spun back when he saw what happened. He called for help and maintained Adam’s breathing till the ambulance arrived. That’s why courses like Biker Down are so important. I would encourage everyone to acquire the life-saving skills these courses offer."

n. For more information, visit www.firescotland.gov.uk/your-safety/road-safety.aspx.