A mum and dad went through every parent's worst nightmare after their newborn son's suspected jaundice turned out to be sepsis. Lucas Dowse and his twin sister Isabelle were born normal, healthy babies when he suddenly came down with a terrifying case of E-Coli at just four weeks old.
Parents Katie Carney and 35-year-old Michael Dowse, first realised something was wrong when they noticed a yellowish-grey tinge to the newborn's skin. When he later refused to feed, they rushed him to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough on Friday, October 21, believing that he had a bout of jaundice.
However once there, Lucas began to develop sepsis and he was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle by ambulance. After undergoing various tests and assessments, doctors found that due to a lack of oxygen when medics tried to incubate him, Luca's spleen had become irreparably damaged. As a result, Lucas will need to take antibiotics for the rest of his life, Teesside Live reports.
Adding to his parent's heartbreak, doctors also discovered that the newborn was suffering from meningitis after performing a Lumber Puncture on him, as well as a heart murmur. As little Luca continues to grow, he will need to be closely monitored by the neurological team, and several specialists, at the RVI.
Despite his rocky start to life, Luca - now almost seven weeks old - is slowly recovering, much to the relief of his family.
Katie, 30, said: "We're just so glad he's here. Initially, we were sat down by the doctors and they told us that he was gravely ill. Even at James Cook they told me that he was 'by far the sickest baby in this hospital right now' and that was even before they took us to the RVI.
"I just keep thinking that he is so lucky to be here, someone has definitely been looking down on him."
During the family's time at the RVI, they received free onsite accommodation, which is funded entirely by charitable donations. This meant Katie and builder Michael could stay by their little one's side while he underwent treatment in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), instead of commuting nearly 50 miles every day from their home in Eston.
Katie, who is a health worker at the Friaridge Hospital in Northallerton, now wants to give back to the hospital, and the doctors and nurses, who saved their son's life.
The family have set up a GoFundMe page which is aiming to fundraise as much money as possible for the RVI, so that other families who are going through a similar situation can receive the same care that they did.
She added: "If we couldn't have stayed at Crawford House then we'd have all been split as a family, and how can you have one parent and one child at the hospital and the others at home. It is fantastic there, there were some families who'd been there for 18 months.
"I'd like to raise some money for the PICU there too, they use all their own stuff, even their own baby clothes for the babies being taken off the ventilator. Even if it went towards them giving it towards helping the babies in the ICU because they said they're always running short on baby clothes."
If you'd like to donate to Katie and Michael's GoFundMe then you can click, here.
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