A Nottinghamshire dad has spoken of how his son turned 'very pale' before almost losing his life. Jacob O’Neill from Mansfield suddenly fell ill in April 2019 when he was just two-years-old, before being diagnosed with malrotation and volvulus.
Malrotation is an abnormality of the bowel, which happens while the baby is developing in the womb. Volvulus is a complication of the malrotation which occurs when the bowel twists so the blood supply to that part of the bowel is cut off, which can be life-threatening.
Jacob's dad Chris said the toddler went from being healthy to almost dying within 24 hours. “He was a very healthy two-year-old boy. He did everything you’d expect of a boy his age. One Monday, he was being looked after by his grandmother and she called my wife to say he wasn’t very well," he said.
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“I rushed home from work and I could see instantly something wasn’t right. He was very lethargic and pale, and had just been sick before I arrived to pick him up. I knew instantly that we needed to take him to the doctor's straight away.
“Within 24 hours, Jacob went from being completely healthy to almost losing his life.” The doctors called an ambulance to take Jacob to his local hospital, but his condition quickly deteriorated and he was then rushed to Sheffield Children’s Hospital for emergency care.
"Shortly before leaving in the ambulance, he needed to be revived. Given the seriousness of his condition, neither myself nor my wife were able to travel with him as the medical staff were looking after him in the ambulance. We jumped in the car to Sheffield Children’s Hospital.”
To save Jacob’s life, all but 5cm of his small intestine and a third of his large intestine were removed, beginning a five month stay at Sheffield Children’s Hospital as his family adapted to feeding him by total parenteral nutrition (TPN). This is when fluids are given into a vein to provide most of the nutrients the body needs.
“Had they not diagnosed Jacob as quickly as they did and completed the surgery so quickly, it is likely he wouldn’t be with us today. I didn’t eat or sleep for the next three days. We were tired, distraught and upset," Chris said.
Jacob went home in September 2019 but has since returned to Sheffield Children’s Hospital several times for short stays lasting up to five days. He was placed on the transplant list in March 2020, just as the world was going into the first Covid lockdown.
Six months later, his family received the news that he would be transferred to Birmingham for a bowel transplant that would allow him to eat and drink and normally once again. He is now back at school, swims, plays sport and loves walking the family dog too.
To say thank you his family and friends recreated Jacob’s journey with a gruelling 95-mile mountain bike ride between Sheffield Children’s Hospital and Birmingham, to raise £1,845 for The Children’s Hospital Charity. It involved more than 6,000ft of elevation and took more than 10 hours.
Chris added: “Jacob’s journey was even more challenging than we had anticipated, but just like the staff at Sheffield Children’s did during his treatment, we surrounded each other with positivity.” You can support the Jacob’s journey fundraising here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chris-o-neill15
A statement on the fundraising page read: "We have chosen to recreate Jacob's Journey - 90 miles of gruelling ups and downs between Sheffield Children's and Birmingham Children's to raise as much money as we possibly can for Sheffield Children's while raising awareness of organ donation which has given our little boy his life back. Let’s support these amazing hospitals so that they can continue changing the lives of so many children."
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