A MUM has described how the care of Alder Hey doctors helped transform her son's life, as she marked three years since he came out of an induced coma.
Ellesmere Port local, Nicki Drummond, is the mother of 13-year-old Joe Parker.
She said: “Initially Joe was always prone to chest infections, and he was always ill. We went back and forth to the countess and said so many times there’s something not right here.
“He was constantly on antibiotics and medication. Always taking his blue inhaler.”
One Sunday, Nicki, Joe and her daughter, travelled to the waterpark in Blackpool for a day out. Nicki explained that Joe was struggling to breathe throughout the day.
She said: “It is hot in swimming pools, and we had to go to the lockers to get his inhaler because he kept telling me he couldn’t breathe.”
That night, once they had returned home, Nicki went to check on Joe to make sure he was ok. Joe was sat next to his window and told his mum he couldn’t breathe again.
Nicki explained: “He was so breathless; he couldn’t even get into the car. When we got to the hospital car park, I had to piggyback him because he couldn’t walk.
“I’ll never forget the feeling when he stopped breathing. It was just me and him and he just flopped on my back. I put him on the floor, and I was screaming in the carpark for help. At that point in time, I was watching him, and I thought he was dying.”
An off-duty paramedic ran over after hearing Nicki scream and went and got an ambulance from round the corner.
Joe was rushed into the hospital and put straight into an induced coma.
Nicki explained that Joe, who was 10 years old at the time, was rushed through to Alder Hey and was in the induced coma for just short of 4 days.
She added: “I can’t describe how helpless you feel in that moment. I kept saying to the doctors something is not right.
“It was a really tough time.”
After the incident, Joe was given a new inhaler called Symbicort which has helped with his chest and breathing. Joe has not had any issues since receiving the new inhaler.
Nicki explained that Joe didn’t have the right medication he needed at first, which caused all the breathing difficulties.
Before Joe's collapse Nicki had raised concerns with doctors but she was told he must not be taking his inhaler properly and at the right time.
She said: “He’s my son. I know he takes it correctly. [I felt] you are not giving him the right medication. There is something going on.
“The specialists wouldn’t believe me. He was told to take his inhaler every single night and he did. No matter what we did the doctor wouldn’t listen.”
Nicki said that Alder Hey have been so helpful and Joe’s life has now completely changed for the better.
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