Ellesmere Port couple launch Alder Hey appeal in memory of 19-day-old son

Carl and Kerry Osborne, from Great Sutton, have praised hospital staff for their "hard work, dedication, care and compassion" and say without them they would not have been able to come through such a difficult time.

Jaxon was born eight weeks premature at Wirral's Arrowe Park Hospital and had a growth on his arm which was haemorrhaging blood.

He successfully underwent lifesaving surgery but Carl and Kerry's joy was shortlived as doctors discovered Jaxon had multiple organ failure.

After surviving the transfer to Alder Hey, Jaxon continued to amaze doctors despite undergoing major operations but an infection eventually proved too much for him to cope with and he sadly died on August 7.

Now his parents, who also have a six-year-old son called Kaelin, have launched a fundraising appeal in his memory – which has already raised more than £7,000 – as a way of turning the loss of Jaxon into something positive.

Carl Osborne with his son Jaxon.

Carl, 33, said: "No other hospital offer anything quite like the team at Alder Hey and we are unsure how we would have coped and got through this without them.

"The loss of our beautiful, brave baby boy has been utterly heartbreaking, but the admiration and gratitude we have for the team at Alder Hey will endure forever.

"We want to use the loss of Jaxon to do something positive hence why we are looking to raise money to donate to Alder Hey Children's Charity and in particular the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and bereavement suites whose hard work, dedication, care and compassion gave Jaxon a fighting chance, and allowed our family to grieve and be with our son once his fight was over.

"I am so proud of my son in how he fought so hard in the 19 days he was here despite being so small and fragile, and despite having more thrown at him than anyone would ever expect in 90 years of life, let alone 19 days.

"Our lives will never be the same now Jaxon has gone, but we hope we can at least make a little difference in helping support the team at Alder Hey in maybe saving a small baby or child's life of a family unfortunate enough to be in a similar position to that we found ourselves in."

Here Carl tells the heartbreaking story of how his son Jaxon continuously defied the odds before sadly passing away at just 19 days of age:

"On the 19th July 2020 our beautiful baby boy Jaxon Harry Osborne was born via an emergency C-section, eight weeks premature.

"Whilst premature birth carries risk, we had no doubts that the fantastic neonatal team at Arrowe Park would look after our boy and ultimately get him home to us safe.

"Nothing could have prepared us for the cruel hand life dealt to our gorgeous boy. Jaxon was born with a growth on his arm – a Congenital Myofibroma – which was haemorrhaging blood.

"After nearly losing him twice in theatre the staff at Arrowe Park managed to stabilise him but the growth remained on his arm and was still bleeding.

"Less than an hour later we were told Jaxon would need to go to Alder Hey right away and that his life was under serious threat. There was a real chance that he would not survive the ambulance journey over to Alder Hey given how much blood he was losing and the only likely way to stop the bleeding was to amputate his arm.

"Thanks to the incredible team at Arrowe Park and Alder Hey, Jaxon made it across and was able to undergo surgery to try and stop the bleeding and save his life.

Kerry Osborne with her son Jaxon.

"Again the chances of our baby boy making it through were slim but the unbelievable surgeons at Alder Hey managed to remove the growth and stop the bleeding whilst keeping his arm intact.

"Our unbridled joy was ultimately short-lived as Jaxon, given the stress and blood loss his fragile, premature body had been through, now had multiple organ failure, and was taken straight to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in Alder Hey.

"There we were told Jaxon needed to go on to a dialysis machine, in addition to all of the other life support he was on, and would be the smallest person to go on to that machine.

"Again the chances of him even making it through the procedure to put him on the machine were slim, but once again thanks to the amazing team at Alder Hey he made it through.

"Jaxon would stay on the PICU at Alder Hey for 19 days and was cared for immensely by everyone. In that time we were told he had little chance of making it before then making incredible improvements and giving everyone a sense of confidence he would make it.

"After an unexpected bad scan result revealed perforations to his bowel, Jaxon endured two major life-threatening operations in under 24 hours where seven perforations were operated on and subsequently a stoma to try and aid his failing body.

"The second operation took it out of our boy and it looked like he would leave us due to a seemingly internal source of bleeding. Again, however, the team at Alder Hey managed against all the odds to – at the 11th hour – stop the bleeding, yet again giving Jaxon a chance.

"With their help, Jaxon performed miracles time and time again and after answering our prayers of making it through our eldest son's birthday, a day after being told that was it as they could not stop the bleeding, Jaxon once again began an incredible recovery which had even the consultants scratching their heads.

"Our boy was such an incredible soul, an unbelievable fighter who stole our hearts even though the cruel Covid world we live in prevented us seeing him together and for the rest of his family to meet him at all.

"Alas it proved one battle too many after an infection reared its head and ultimately proved too much for Jaxon to take. We lost our darling son on Friday 7th August 2020, 19 days after he came into this world under the cruellest of circumstances.

Everton fan Carl has framed his son's first kit.

"The care and treatment he received whilst on PICU at Alder Hey was first class and gave him the chance to keep producing miracles. Without their care, Jaxon would not have blessed us and provided us with loving memories for as long as he did.

"Following his death, Jaxon was transferred to the bereavement suite at Alder Hey who would care for our son from then on. Under the superb care of Ian, as well as the wider small team he operates with, me and my wife were able to spend quality time with our son that the incubators of intensive care had denied us.

"Amongst the chance for cuddles, the team at the bereavement suite offered compassion, genuine care, advice and keep sakes in a non clinical environment which we found absolutely invaluable.

"Ian also helped with administration duties such as registering the birth and death and appointing funeral directors. It allowed us to grieve and spend time with our son whilst they took care of the heavy lifting.

"No other hospital offer anything quite like the team at Alder Hey and we are unsure how we would have coped and got through this without them.

"The loss of our beautiful, brave baby boy has been utterly heartbreaking, but the admiration and gratitude we have for the team at Alder Hey will endure forever."

• To donate to the fundraising appeal for Alder Hey in memory of Jaxon click here.