The fight to SAVE MY SON

When Sophie Cooke realised her young son had a terminal condition, she refused to give up on him

- SARAH WHITELEY, TRACY GAYTON

Watching my little boy Sidney sit in the sand, giggling with his older sister Nancy on our first ever family holiday to Turkey, I feel overwhelmed with pride in my gorgeous two children. It terrifies me, even now, how close we came to losing Sidney and I’ll never stop being grateful for having them both here with me and my husband, Aden.

Aden and I had always wanted two children and so when Nancy was just about to turn two in 2020, we started trying for another baby. I suffered badly from sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum but thankfully there were no complications with my unborn baby. And when Sidney was born in April 2021, with his bright blue eyes, I thought he was the most beautiful little boy I’d ever seen.

The midwife mentioned that he was breathing from his belly, rather than his chest, and I noticed they had to repeat a reflex check to get the correct reaction, but, exhausted from giving birth and anxious to get back to Nancy in our home in Yalding, Kent, I didn’t pay any attention to these seemingly small details.

Back at home, Sidney was an easy baby, sleeping and eating well. But that changed at seven weeks. He became fussy with his milk and started crying constantly. The GP suggested we try a different formula as he might be allergic. But nothing helped.

Then, at his 16-week vaccinations in August 2021, the doctor pointed out that Sidney still wasn’t able to support his own head. I looked at him. She was right. In fact, it was so glaringly obvious, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed myself. And as I kept a close eye on him over the next couple of days, I realised it wasn’t just his head. He was floppy all over. In fact, he was barely moving.