'Miracle' baby's parents tell of longest night

Doctors said 10-month-old Ivan Cawrey should never have been able to withstand the staggering number of cardiac arrests, including one where his parents lost him for 12 minutes.

Sade Jackson, 20, and Phillip Cawrey, 24, were told to say goodbye to their first child after specialist medics said they had done all they could and there was little chance of survival.

Miss Jackson said her son was left temporarily paralysed and attached to a ventilator within hours of contracting the disease, which can progress extremely swiftly if undetected.

Doctors told his mother that his survival was a "miracle" and he now has one final check-up next week and should be given the all-clear just two months after his ordeal during the night of July 4 and 5.

Miss Jackson, who lives with her partner and baby son in Sheffield, said: "Everything was going fine. I'd had no complications in pregnancy and he was born a healthy 7lb 1oz.

"We were settling in to being first-time parents. It was a Sunday night and we put him to bed as normal and he was fine.

"But then when he woke up at around 4.30am he was drenched with sweat. His skin felt like it was on fire, but at the same time he was shivering. It was really scary.

"We waited for the doctors to open and took him down straight away.

"I had seen a little dot on his belly when I was changing him earlier that day and the doctors said it could be the start of chicken pox, but told us we should go and get him checked out straight away at the hospital.

"At this point we didn't really know what to think – we didn't know what was happening, just that we had to get him seen as soon as possible."

Over the next few hours, more spots developed over Ivan's body and he was transferred to intensive care at Sheffield Children's Hospital as his organs began to shut down.

Medics told Ivan's parents that he was extremely ill and advised them to prepare for the worst because they were not sure whether the baby was going to make it through the night.

The brave youngster then battled through seven cardiac arrests over the course of about eight hours, but each time he came round as medics continued to administer oxygen and CPR.

Miss Jackson said: "It was a really horrible time – the longest few hours of my life. It's hard to sum it up really and put into words how we felt.

"It was awful seeing our little baby lying there with all these tubes coming out of him and looking so ill and weak.

"The doctors told us he probably wouldn't make it but him and the doctors kept battling. We lost him for 12 minutes during one of his attacks, but amazingly he even pulled through that."

Ivan was put on an intensive ventilator after suffering the series of heart attacks to keep him alive and he spent the next seven days under 24-hour scrutiny in intensive care.

Miss Jackson added: "It was the best feeling in the world when he started to show signs he was able to breathe for himself – the hospital staff were amazed by how well he was doing, they said he was a miracle."

Since July, Ivan has made a speedy recovery and his parents said he has delighted medics with his progress and is now an "active, happy and lively little boy".

To thank the Children's Hospital, Miss Jackson and Mr Cawrey organised a fundraising day at their local pub with all the proceeds going to the Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity.

Miss Jackson said: "We wanted to do something because without them our little miracle wouldn't be here today."

KILLER BUG IS HARD TO SPOT

According to national charity Meningitis UK, which works to raise awareness of the disease, spotting symptoms in a baby can be difficult.

Although Ivan Cawrey did suffer a rash, some children will not exhibit the classic symptoms, such as neck stiffness and an aversion to bright lights until the disease has taken hold.

The charity said parents should trust their instincts and added that they should go to accident and emergency immediately if they had any suspicion that their child was suffering.

More information is available from the charity's website at www.meningitis-trust.org