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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Ekin Karasin

Jess Wright's son left 'struggling to breathe' after he was 'catapulted' off bouncy castle

Jess Wright has revealed her son Presley was airlifted to the hospital after a freak accident on a bouncy castle.

The former TOWIE star - who shares the four-year-old with husband William Lee-Kemp - shared her horror after Presley was “catapulted” three metres from the top of the bouncy castle at a birthday party.

The 40-year-old said Presley - who has a rare heart disease - landed face down on a hard “wooden floor”, was “struggling to breathe” and “passed out in our arms”.

Sharing a photo of Presley on a stretcher with his head in a brace, she penned on Instagram on Wednesday: “Scariest day of my life.

“Have thanked God every day that he’s ok because it was truly horrendous seeing him in the state he was here & just before.”

Sharing another post of her little boy lying in her arms, the reality star added: “The love I feel for this child physically hurts.”

Wright - who previously shared her postnatal depression battle - went on: “We had a really scary thing happen at a bday party on Saturday and he’s been so clingy (even more than usually) ever since.

“Presley got catapulted off the top of a bouncy castle high in the air and landed face down on hard wooden floor from about three metres high. A noise that silenced the whole party and will haunt me I’m sure.

“My baby was struggling to breathe and then passed out in our arms until coming to in what felt like ages later but probably about five seconds.

“To say he was in a state is an understatement as well as mum and dad. We were blue lit to the trauma unit in London and on the journey things were being discussed like broken ribs, spine injury and worse.

“Miraculously when we arrived the show had subsided slightly and pain killers kicked in and a few hours later we were released with no injuries other than a few bruises, a very sore little boy and traumatised parents.”

Presley was airlifted to the hospital (Instagram)
Presley was airlifted to the hospital (Instagram)

The mother-of-one continued: “Like most I’m sure, Will and I are so very panicky around Presley’s safety especially because of his heart condition, so the fact this happened to him, we were beside ourselves.

“It was a freak accident that couldn’t have been avoided but I will say I’ll be more careful in future if the bouncy castle is on a wooden floor as opposed to mats or I guess maybe grass.

“Thank you to all the families at the party who helped us at the time and were there to support us.

“We had a lucky escape but I wanted to say the biggest thank you to the paramedics in the @nhsenglandldn ambulance team and the doctors at Royal London hospital.”

She later shared a photo of him playing a card game on his hospital bed, telling fans: “Five hours later and we were playing games, grateful for his recovery!!!”

Wright revealed in 2024 that Presley had been diagnosed with a rare congenital heart disease called bicuspid aortic valve.

Wright shares Presley with her husband William Lee-Kemp (Instagram/Jessica Wright)
Wright shares Presley with her husband William Lee-Kemp (Instagram/Jessica Wright)

It affects just one percent of people and means the heart valve has only two small parts, called leaflets, instead of the normal three.

Wright assured her son is doing well and hasn’t needed surgery so far but will require monitoring over time.

Last February, she rushed Presley, then aged two, to A&E after noticing he looked “limp and lifeless”.

She said he was refusing to eat, had a “horrific” cough, and was throwing up, but was given Nurofen and sent home - only for his symptoms to worsen.

Wright said she was “frightened beyond belief” watching him battle difficulty breathing, a high temperature, and an incessant cough.

Doctors eventually detected that Presley had a chest or lung infection and sent him home with antibiotics to recover.

She married husband Lee-Kemp in 2021 after two years together and they welcomed Presley in May 2022.

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