Our beautiful baby boy Moses was born on 16th July 2018, but on the 17th July he was rushed to our local Coventry Hospital. He was not feeding & was vomiting bright green fluid. We were told he was really poorly with a possible bowel obstruction & that we would need to be admitted to Birmingham Children’s hospital to be seen by specialist doctors. The staff were amazing on Neonatal & Moses was soon diagnosed with a rare bowel condition called Hirschsprung Disease which meant part of his bowel did not work and he was unable to pass stool by himself. We were treated in Neonatal for around 9 days & were taught how to perform rectal washouts on Moses to keep him safe and empty his bowels twice daily. A pull through operation would be arranged for Moses when he was 5 months old. We were discharged & the after care was amazing; we were assigned our wonderful Stoma Nurse who we were in regular contact with and she was there to support us whenever we needed.

After just 5 days at home, Moses became really poorly again. Doctors at our local hospital told us Moses would need a lumbar puncture & this confirmed he had contracted bacterial meningitis; our world just came shattering down again. We were admitted back to our local hospital this time where he was treated for 10 days. He was so brave throughout this whole experience .

He was doing amazing after we came home and apart from the wash outs he was the happiest little baby.

On 23rd November 2018, Moses went back to Birmingham for his pull through operation; our surgeon was just one of the best. He explained everything to us and after 5 days in hospital Moses was discharged and was able to poop by himself . We were elated and everything was just perfect. We moved to a new house & couldn’t be happier.

On the 20th March 2019 Moses started to get unwell, showing signs of an infection. We took him to our out of hours and they told us he had tonsillitis. I was relieved it wasn’t the meningitis back again, however he just wasn’t getting better and after many trips back and forth to hospitals, on Saturday 24th March 2019 he was eventually admitted with dehydration...however something still wasn’t right. Moses became really unwell and unresponsive. As parents seeing your baby deteriorate so quickly was beyond scary. On Sunday 25th March we were told we could lose our baby and that Moses could die. He was ventilated and transferred to Birmingham PICU. He had contracted Hirschsprung Enterocolitis which is a fatal bowel infection, this then spread to sepsis . Moses was so poorly and his life hung in the balance. After 3 weeks in hospital, 2 blood transfusions, 2 operations , tube feeding and now a stoma bag being created (which is saving his precious little life) we have our beautiful little boy back; although still with a long way to go.

I want to raise awareness for the dangers relating to Hirschsprung Disease in every day infections that can lead to this horrific Enterocolitis and to say a huge thank you to the most wonderful team of doctors & nurses, who always went above and beyond to support, treat and help not only Moses but myself , husband and the rest of our beautiful family . We will be forever grateful .