For almost a year, toddler Jacob Chanter suffered with constant coughs and colds and struggled to keep his food down. After much discussion between his parents and doctors, the decision was made to remove his enlarged tonsils and adenoids under general anaesthetic.
While most children and adults usually come round from the operation within an hour or two, the 19-month-old child would not wake up - much to the dismay of his family and NHS staff. His mum Lara Hoffman said: "He was quite young to have the operation done, but the doctors said it was necessary.
"There's always a risk, but the alternative was for him to keep being sick - and he was already underweight for his age. It's not nice having your child being put to sleep, but I wasn't particularly worried as so many people have that procedure."
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Lara, from Ivybridge, near Plymouth, said Jacob was in theatre at Derriford Hospital on August 9 for around two hours before a surgeon came out to tell the family that they could not wake him from the anaesthetic. "He said the operation itself went well but for the anaesthetic side of things he'd have to speak to the anaesthetists. That instantly raised alarm bells that something was wrong. They also said he'd suffered a couple of seizures. It's every parent's worst nightmare."
Lara, 38, was told to go to theatre to see Jacob who was on a ventilator with tubes and wires all around him. As Derriford Hospital does not have an intensive care unit for children, the medics first decided to send him to Bristol Children's Hospital - but they did not have any beds. Instead, he travelled by ambulance to the Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales in Cardiff.
"I went up in the ambulance with Jacob, which took about three hours, and we got to Cardiff at about 4.30am on August 10," Lara added. "The team in Cardiff were brilliant. He had one-to-one care and all the staff talked us through everything which put us at ease."
While in Plymouth Jacob underwent a CT scan which revealed a suspected bleed on his brain. However, an MRI scan in Cardiff revealed he had a 'calcification' instead which was not deemed serious and allayed their fears.
In total Jacob spent two days without waking but was able to be brought round on Thursday, August 11 following his MRI. "He was very dazed when he came round and was very lethargic. He probably had no idea where he was or what was going on," Lara added.
On Friday, August 12 Jacob got transferred back to Derriford Hospital in an air ambulance and was discharged just a day later. Lara has now set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the Noah's Ark Children's Charity. To donate please go here.
"The hospital would not have been able to provide the excellent care and support to Jacob without the help from Noah's Ark Charity," Lara added. "We will always be extremely grateful to the staff who cared for our son and got him through this incredibly hard time."
Jacob, who loves Toy Story and got Buzz and Woody dolls when he finally arrived home, is now on the road to recovery and is progressing well.
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