A mum didn't know anything was wrong with her new-born baby until he was rushed away by doctors at birth.
Nicola Dugdale, from Huyton, gave birth to her first child Jude on March 25 2013, and the 35-year-old said during her pregnancy, there were no signs of any issues. However Nicola's labour was quite traumatic, and doctors at Whiston Hospital rushed Jude away as soon as he was born.
Following tests and a move to Alder Hey at 12 hours old, it was discovered that little Jude was suffering from a very rare vascular tumour on the side of his face called Kaposiform Haemangioendothelioma with Kasabach Merritt Syndrome- a type of tumour which destroys the platelets which are responsible for blood clotting.
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Mum Nicola told the ECHO: "We had no idea anything was wrong during the pregnancy, it was just a complete shock when he was born. The birth was quite traumatic and he had a bruise on the side of his head so at first they thought he could've fractured his skull during the birth.
"He was taken away to the special care unit in Whiston and we didn't see him, we just knew he was sick, when he was 12 hours old he was taken to Alder Hey so they could carry out more tests, and he was cared for by some of the best doctors in the UK. They found out that he had a vascular tumour called Kaposiform Haemangioendothelioma with Kasabach Merritt Syndrome."
Jude was operated on by surgeons at Alder Hey, and the procedure was initially successful, but the strain was eventually too much and he suffered a cardiac arrest and died on April 2 at eight days old.
Nicola added: "He had to go into theatre so they could attempt to shunt the blood flow because all of his blood was going to this tumour, he was in theatre for a long time but when he came round it had been a success and he was feeling a it better.
"But as time went on because the tumour was so big his body couldn't cope with it, and around day four and five he ended up in intensive care. He was looked after two-to-one by nurses because he was so unwell, but his body just couldn't cope and he ended up having a cardiac arrest."
At the time of Jude's death, Nicola and her footballer husband Adam Dugdale, 35, had not long since moved into a new home, and the couple were devastated to return without their baby. She added: "Now it has such sentimental value to us because it's the house we bought for Jude."
This March marks Jude's 10th birthday, and in his memory, his siblings Jace, nine, Elsa, seven and Gene, two, are walking up Moel Famau to raise money for Alder Hey Children's Hospital. Nicola explained how the family normally mark Jude's birthday.
She said: "We normally just do a small gathering and get some balloons for Jace, Elsa, and Gene to let go in the back garden. They all know they’ve got an older brother who would be ten and was a very sick baby who now looks down on them from heaven."
The family have previously raised over £20k for Alder Hey, Nicola explained: "In the summer of 2013 we raised over £20k through fundraising events planned and organised by ourselves, our family, our friends and people who we didn’t even know.
"So many people contributed to our cause. All the money we raised went into sponsoring a room in the new hospital. Although we ended up sponsoring two rooms because we raised so much."
On Saturday, March 25, the family will walk up Moel Famau to support Alder Hey's Neonatal Appeal, who are urgently trying to raise £25k to buy a specialised incubator for seriously ill babies. To support the fundraiser, visit here.
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