Mum fundraising for son who lost limbs to sepsis

The mother of a little boy who lost three limbs after contracting sepsis is fundraising for prosthetics that will enable him to walk.

Olivia Bartwell from Nuneaton said she had a "happy and very sociable" one-year-old before he fell ill on 24 May.

Rhoman-Gray was diagnosed with meningococcal, a type of meningitis which leads to septic shock, and had to have his legs and left arm amputated.

"It was like I wasn't there... it was horrendous," Ms Bartwell said.

She said her son rapidly deteriorated after he was sick during the night.

"He was sweating, there was a rash that looked like chicken pox which had been going round," she said.

"He wouldn't take the milk, his eyes went grey and he was struggling to breathe," she said.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said staff had "noted the boy was clinically very unwell with potentially both meningitis and chicken pox".

Rhoman-Gray was taken to the paediatric unit at Coventry's University Hospital, where paramedics alerted medics to their concerns about both conditions, they added.

"At first I was told it was meningitis then I was told it was meningococcal, the most vicious one anyone can catch," Ms Bartwell said.

"If I'd called an hour later he wouldn't be here. He would have died in my bed".

Septic shock, which is a complication of meningitis, set in for the one-year-old and he was rushed to Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Ms Bartwell said the first surgery she had to sign for was permission for them to amputate her son's legs, as that is where the infection was.

"There was no question, in my mind those legs weren't my child's... they were stopping him from living, they said. They said you'll either take him home disabled or not at all," she said.

"I remember screaming, 'I can handle a disabled child, I can't handle a dead child."

Later, Rhoman-Gray also had his left arm amputated. After these surgeries, his mother said his organs slowly started to work again, with his kidneys cleaning his blood of the virus.

Three months later and adjusting to being back home, Ms Bartwell is fundraising on JustGiving for £100,000 prosthetic limbs which will bend. Many that do are not available on the NHS.

"There is a boy in Ohio and I've spoken to his mum and he lost his legs and then was walking on prosthetics," said Ms Bartwell.

"He is two years old and he is thriving in life and the funding is so I can get the best for my child."

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