The mum of Britain's biggest family has shared her anger at the “shocking” care her grandson received when medics refused to believe he had Strep A.
Sue Radford said Chester, the son of her daughter Millie, came down with sickness on Friday with his worried mum booking an emergency appointment at midnight on Friday.
Convinced the tot had Strep A - which had so far killed at least 74 people of all ages in the latest outbreak - she took her son to the medic who dismissed it as conjunctivitis.
Far from convinced Millie took Chester home but woke the next morning to her “nightmare” when she found blood pouring from his nose.
Sue, who has 22 children with husband Noel, said on Instagram : “Got the shock of my life early this morning getting woken up by Millie worried sick about Chester.
"I couldn’t believe what I was seeing - his nose pouring with blood and him looking so poorly.
"To say we feel let down by this doctor that saw Chester at midnight on Friday is an understatement with how serious Strep A is.
"This could have been so much worse.”
Millie gave birth to little Chester in February this year, who is brother to her daughter Ophelia.
She shared on her Instagram: “I had to book an emergency doctors’ appointment for him Friday midnight - the doctor being extremely rude.
“On the phone to his daughter while ‘checking my son over’ all for him to say, ‘Yes it’s just conjunctivitis’ which is correct but I said I think he has Strep A - he’s suffering with his throat and there’s a clear obvious red rash all over his face. He still refused to swab Chester.
“Then at 5am on Saturday morning, Millie walked into Chester's bedroom to find his face absolutely covered in blood from a nose bleed.
"This nose bleed has happened because he has strep A - it’s been that aggressive in his throat, his face has swollen up, his ears are inflamed and the pressure it’s been causing around his face has left him with a pouring nose bleed.”
The incident comes as the UK Health Security Agency confirmed 16 children are among those to have so far died in the outbreak.
Sue and Noel do not rely on benefits and are parents to Chris, 32, Sophie, 27, Chloe, 26, Jack, 24, Daniel, 22, Luke, 21, Millie, 20, Katie, 19, James, 18, Ellie, 16, Aimee, 15, Josh, 14, Max, 12, Tillie, 11, Oscar, 10, Casper, nine, Hallie, six, Phoebe, five, Archie, four, Bonnie, three, and Heidie, one.
The couple's 17th child Alfie was stillborn on July 6, 2014.