Battling boy defies odds to take big strides towards normal life

Lyall Cookward’s parents were told three years ago he might need to be on a ventilator for life but the youngster has now reached milestones they never thought possible.

His mother, Steph Ward, said: “This week is the anniversary of the closest he came to dying.

“Three years ago we were being told he might be ventilated for up to three years or potentially for life. Now he’s ventilator-free, starting to talk and walk, in a mainstream playgroup and starting mainstream school in 2014.”

Lyall, who has Down’s Syndrome, suffered heart failure soon after birth and needed a risky operation immediately and more surgery later.

Then he was diagnosed with a rare lung condition and spent six months in a Leeds hospital’s intensive care unit. After returning home to Chapel Allerton, Leeds, he was expected to need a ventilator long-term.

However he has now come off the machine, although he still relies on an opening in his windpipe to breathe and may have reconstructive surgery in future.

His mother, her partner Sharron Cook and their older sons Dan and Max are delighted by Lyall’s improvement.

His mother added: “What we have started to do is hope, which we had never done before.

“Now we can believe he may walk independently, he will go to school. They are massive milestones and it’s quite incredible when you think of what he’s gone through.”