Appeal to buy artificial legs for four-year-old

The father of a four-year-old boy who had to have both of his legs amputated is aiming to raise £100,000 to pay for artificial legs for him as well as his ongoing care.

Kaylan, from Coventry, was taken to Birmingham Children's Hospital on 14 December with septic shock and spent more than a month in intensive care.

His father, Tom, said his son's limbs turned black and doctors decided his legs would have to be amputated if he was going to survive.

Tom said his son still does not completely understand and asks for "his old legs back".

Over the August Bank Holiday, Tom plans to walk up Yr Wyddfa - also known as Snowdon - in Wales, Scafell Pike in England and Ben Nevis in Scotland, to raise money.

He will take on the challenge with his brother, his brother's partner and a cousin and said: "I'd walk to the end of the earth for my son."

When Kaylan first became ill, Tom said doctors said it was probably a stomach bug.

But when he became "floppy, limp and developed a purple rash", he and Kaylan's mother took him to Nuneaton's George Eliot Hospital.

He was later transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital where he spent more than 80 days.

At one point Tom said they were told Kaylan's chance of survival "was extremely slim".

His son is now home and Tom said he was "doing OK" but was very upset.

Kaylan's mother, Tora, said it would be six months before a prosthetics team would get in touch with them because experts were waiting "for his legs to heel".

The mother added doctors said he had "just got a stomach bug" and "the next day Kaylan was so [confused] he didn't even know where his mum was and I was right there".

"Every single night I stayed. I slept on the chair," she said.

"I couldn't leave him...I've not seen as many machines around a kid in my life."

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