Logan's Heroes Strangers Saved My Boy's Life

The Mother And Son Are Indebted To Blood Donors.

- Lynley Ward

There’s a special moment Niki Besley relishes just before her eldest boy Logan races out the door each day. She knows her youngster is always mindful of the terrifying weeks he battled a mystery illness that came perilously close to claiming his life, so the pair always share a tender embrace before he jets off.

“He’d kill me if I said this, but he won’t leave the house without giving me a cuddle,” she confesses. “Yes, it’s behind our four walls, but he still does all that kind of stuff because he knows he nearly died – he knows he was that close – so I think he’s really appreciative.”

Tears flow as the Auckland mum-of-two (44) recounts the knife-edge health scare four years ago, filled with blood transfusions and fears her gravely ill child would not survive as a mystery illness ravaged his small frame.

What started as a flu-like bug saw the 12-year-old land in hospital, weak from vomiting and sweating from fever.

“One night, I turned up to replace my husband and he was blue,” Niki tells, the memory still causing her to break down in tears.

“There was no oxygen getting to his lungs and it was pretty scary. That was probably the worst day.”

At one point, Niki and her husband Craig (43) were told the grim news that there was nothing more that could be done for their son.