Meningitis baby survives crisis
10:59am Friday 16th May 2008
A BABY who was only ten minutes away from death has been saved with the help of vital equipment bought with funds from The Press's Guardian Angels Appeal.
The overjoyed parents of eight-month-old Joshua Hunt today gave their heart-felt thanks to staff at York Hospital and pledged to help us reach the appeal's £300,000 target.
Last month their son was struck down with meningococcal septicaemia - a rare and deadly strain of meningitis with a survival rate of only 50 per cent.
But, thanks to the dedicated care on York Hospital's children's ward, the little fighter is now back home and showing no signs of his traumatic ordeal.
Relieved mum Stacie Hunt, who lives in Malton, said: "He has been incredibly lucky. Doctors told us afterwards that if we hadn't got him in when we did, we would have lost him.
"They said when he arrived at York Hospital he was ten minutes away from going into shock. His brain had already started to swell and it was really serious."
Stacie, 17, and her boyfriend Thomas Silversides, 18, had taken Joshua to Malton Hospital because he had a high temperature.
She said: "He was having a really bad day. He was sleepy and so hot and in the end we decided to take him to Malton Hospital to see if they could give him anything.
"When we got there, we were rushed straight to York Hospital in an ambulance. He didn't have a rash then and I had no idea it was meningitis.
"I don't think it really hit me what was happening until I saw him in the high-dependency room at York with all the machines around him. It was heart-breaking to see."
Joshua was immediately attached to a vital signs monitor, which was used to check critical information, such as his heart rate and blood pressure.
Two of these £11,500 monitors were donated to the Guardian Angels Appeal last year by the hospital's Heartbeat Appeal.
Guardian Angels project nurse Maureen Augey said: "This equipment makes looking after children like Joshua a lot safer and easier because we know within seconds if their condition changes.
"It has made such a difference to how we care for our most seriously-ill children."
Within four days, Joshua had started to respond well to the antibiotics and, after another four days, he was well enough to go home.
Stacie, a student at Malton Hairdressing Academy, said: "It was the best thing in the world to be able to take him home. He's absolutely fine now and I don't think there's going to be any lasting damage.
"We're just so grateful to everybody at York Hospital and the Guardian Angels Appeal - the facilities it's raising money for are so important for children like Joshua."
She is now organising a sponsored walk to raise money for our appeal, which currently stands at £260,000.
York Hospital appeal £40,000 short of its target
THE Press Guardian Angels appeal is now only £40,000 short of its £300,000 target.
The money will fund two life-saving high-dependency rooms with new, specialised equipment on York Hospital's children's ward. This unit would be the first of its kind in the region that could deal with youngsters arriving as emergencies.
It will mean many more youngsters can be treated in York rather than having to be transferred further afield to cities such as Leeds. These children could be suffering from illnesses including meningitis, septicemia, breathing difficulties, viral chest infections, obstructions of the voice box, severe asthma, bronchiolitis, convulsions or coma and physical injury.
A specialist nurse will care solely for these high-dependency children and other staff will be trained to get the most out of the improvements.
Children would have immediate access to the right treatment instead of waiting for ventilators and monitors to be taken from other patients.
If you would like to make a donation, send cheques or postal orders made out to The Press Guardian Angels appeal, to Guardian Angels, The Press, 76/86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN.