A nine-year-old boy was rushed to hospital after complaining of headaches in the run-up to Christmas.
Henri Brammer underwent major surgery after doctors found "a ball of pus" on his brain. When the schoolboy first began suffering headaches last December, his mum Carly initially put them down to festive excitement.
But when he began to complain of eye pain and became lethargic, Carly knew something was wrong. She took Henri to hospital in Stoke on December 19 and a CT scan showed he needed major surgery.
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He was rushed to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool the following day and underwent three surgical procedures. Doctors told Carly that her son had suffered a viral infection which had resulted in Strep A and empyema of the brain.
After spending a month in hospital recovering, Henri was eventually allowed home. Now, he has pledged to raise funds for the hospital that saved his life, the Liverpool ECHO reports. As part of his fundraising efforts, young Henri went to school dressed as his hero - the surgeon who performed his surgery.
"It was his idea," said mum Carly. "They did a dress up as your hero day in school to raise money for his fundraising page and he asked to go as Doctor Ali so I got the scrubs and printed off the picture and he won over the whole school."
Henri arrived at Alder Hey on December 20 and had his first five-hour procedure that same day. The next two came a week after the other due to further complications.
Carly said the procedure was "difficult" due to the placement of the fluid but that had it been left, it would have been "dangerous". She was soon told her brave son had suffered a viral infection which had resulted in Strep A and empyema of the brain.
She previously told the ECHO: "We were told if we hadn't taken him to A&E on the 19th, he wouldn't be here. His brain would've shut down and he'd have gone to bed and just not woken up."
Strep A, or Group A Streptococcus as it’s also known, is a bacterium most commonly found in the throat and nose that can lead to numerous infections such as scarlet fever, tonsillitis and impetigo.
The bacterium is very common and lots of people will have it unknowingly but in some cases, it can spread to others who may have an increased chance of becoming ill from the infection. However, in most cases health issues caused by Strep A are mild.
Carly is urging other parents to be aware of Strep A and said: "Parents know when something is wrong so trust your gut, even if you are wrong just push for answers. We didn't know how serious Strep A can be; he's a very lucky boy.
"Trust your gut and don't take no for an answer. Alder Hey have been incredible, if you need something done, it's done there and then."
After spending time in ICU and the high dependency unit, Henri was discharged from Alder Hey on January 17 this year and has been fundraising for the hospital ever since. He wanted to raise £10,000 before his 10th birthday in November as a thank you to the staff who saved his life.
A number of fundraisers have already been held and the page has raised more than £9,000 already. The fundraising page can be found here.
