A 17-month-old boy will lose his fingertips and toes after waking up with a rash. Doctors say the outcome could have been catastrophic had his mum not thought to call the doctor. Zoe Walne, 37, says her little boy Teddie, 17 months, first woke up with a small blotch on his head.
The mum of four initially didn’t think much of the rash, and got into the car with Teddie. She had left her partner Duncan Stewart, 39, at home in Burnley, Lancashire, when she got in the car to meet her mum for a walk, she told the Mirror .
But once she got into the car, she noticed the blotches had spread to his tummy. She decided to call NHS 111 for advice, and was told to keep an eye on the rash in case it got worse. Zoe was told to wait for a follow-up call in two hours.
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But after just minutes had passed, the blotches turned to what looked like bruises. She said: "When he woke up he had a bit of an unusual rash, but it went downhill fast from there. As I was getting him dressed I noticed the tiniest little pink mark on his forehead and thought it was strange.”
Initially she thought she would wait until she got to her mum’s, saying: "I thought 'I'll ask my mum what she thinks it is’.” She continued: “But by the time I got to my mum's he had the same little marking on his stomach.”
"I said 'I'm just going to ring 111 because I'm not sure what they are'. The woman on the phone told me to keep an eye on them and said that she would get a doctor to ring me back in two hours. But within about 45 minutes the one near his neck looked like a bit of a bruise so I thought 'I'm not waiting'. I rung back up and described it again and she said I'm going to ring you an ambulance."
Paramedics arrived within minutes, and delivered Zoe the terrible news that they believed her son had meningitis. Meningitis is an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord (meninges) and can cause life-threatening poisoning of the blood known as septicaemia.
Little Teddie was given antibiotics and rushed to Blackburn Hospital, while his rash became darker and darker. Zoe said: "It was a blur. When we got to the hospital the doctor said that is text book meningitis rash.
"They were all rushing around him doing things and they told me to call Duncan and I was starting to get scared. They said it was going to be really unpleasant because they didn't have time to wait for the pain relief to kick in and they needed to drill into his shin bones. He was starting to bleed from his mouth and his nose, it was just terrifying.”
Teddie was sent to Manchester Children’s Hospital by emergency transfer, where he was rushed to Intensive Care and put into an induced coma. He stayed on life support and was administered a paralysis medicine while doctors placed him into a freezer jacket to try and cool his skyrocketing temperature.
After seven days, Teddie started showing signs of being able to breathe on his own and continued to get stronger with medication to fight the infection. But doctors are now running tests to see if any brain functions have been affected while parts of his body were starved of proper oxygen and blood supply.
He was cared for by a plastic surgery team who have been attempting to heal huge blisters that the rash left behind. Medics have already confirmed that the septicaemia infection will take five fingertips and five toes from Teddie, meaning he will need more operations on his life changing injuries.
Zoe's brother Nathan has launched a GoFundMe page to support the family who rely on Duncan's income as a self-employed gardener, but have now been unable to leave their youngest son's bedside. But the parents feel lucky that Teddie is alive, and are desperate to urge other parents to listen to their gut.
Zoe said: "I don't think I have ever prayed as much in my life to be honest. It's the most terrifying thing I think I have ever been through. He has been such a fighter through it all. I keep thanking my lucky stars that he's here.
“The doctors said to me 'you need to realise you saved his life, because if you had waited for the doctor to ring you back Teddie wouldn't be here now'. They said it could have been caused by someone kissing him, coughing near him, it could have been absolutely anything.
"They just can't tell you and that's the scariest thing. He was running round on the Friday and Saturday the same mischievous little boy eating chocolate. You wouldn't have known anything was wrong if you'd have waited because that's the advice you've been given by 111 but you've got to follow your gut, you know your child and if you don't think you can wait, don't wait.
"It was a matter of life and death for Teddie."
You can find Teddie’s GoFundMe here .
