TRIGGER WARNING - PICU / Meningitis

May 2026 marks one year since the worst thing that has ever happed to us, our child got sick, and I mean really really sick 😞 we’ve never shared his story publicly, although there are may that do know, it’s taken me this long to be able to share what happened, but I feel I need to so we can raise some awareness in the hopes no other baby or mama and dadda will go through what we did❣️🥺

Osgar had a ruff start to life, and he fought to be here harder than any little soul should ever have to fight, but he did and he’s overcome the odds not only for survival, but for recovery too, our little warrior 💪

Osgar was born perfect and healthy, he completed our family and our world, BUT he caught Strep B during birth, it was obvious in less than 24 hours that something was wrong, but despite telling multiple midwife’s, nurses and doctors, taking him to A&E and the midwife centre, not one single person picked this up.

At 10 days old, I took him back to A&E because I woke up to green sick, within 20 mins he stopped breathing, this happened repeatedly, he had to be incubated, stabilized and sent to PICU at RMCH.

All We were told was, he was “VERY sick”. He deteriorated so quickly.

By day 2 he was rushed into emergency surgery to have half his colon removed, he was given a stoma and he had to have an abscess drained in his face…. We were asked to say goodbye…

He underwent multiple blood tests and brain scans… it was confirmed that Osgar had meningitis and sepsis which had raged through his tiny little body and brain

We were told our options at this point were severe disability or death, his brain was severely damaged by the infection and his body had taken a severe hit.

Our baby boy was 13 days old… he hadn’t even begun his life. What life he had lived he had suffered so badly 😞 Our world was destroyed.

We didn’t give up on him, we pushed for his rehabilitation, we nursed him day and night, pushed back and made the decisions we felt was best for our boy.

A few weeks later he had to undergo his first brain surgery to have a VP shunt implanted due to his hydrocephalus (a condition caused by the infection in the brain). This device drains the fluid from his brain into his abdomen where the body reabsorbs it, without this he cannot live. These devices can block, break, kink and become infected, which would require further brain surgeries to replace, nothing is guaranteed.

After a loooong ass 3 months we were finally discharged to continue his recovery at home. Since then he has had two shunt malfunctions causing him to become very ill again which required two further brain surgeries to replace. Osgar will live with this condition for the rest of his life, every day is scary, The worry never ends.

He won’t remember the trauma he went through, but we will.

Osgar is a beautiful, happy and cheeky little boy despite everything he has been through, anyone in his life are lucky to know him and knows what an amazing little boy he is 💙

However, we lost something that can never be replaced, we took our 10 day old baby in and got a 3 month old back. I cannot begin to explain how much this destroyed me, I will never get that back. Never. If people had only listened to me he would never have suffered the way he did. I would not be writing this status. I was made to feel paranoid, huffed at, eye rolls at me and these people are paid to protect and help my son but so may of them failed him, it’s enough to send anyone over the edge. MAMAS KNOW BEST ❣️

Something needs to change. It’s not just Osgar, the horror stories we’ve seen and heard during our hospital stay is disgusting, these poor babies deserve so much more ❤️💙

We are thankful for charities such as Ronald Macdonald who gave us accommodation for the time we were at hospital, words can’t explain how much this meant and how much stress it took off our shoulders. A charity I will hold close to my heart for the rest of my life ❤️

If you’re pregnant or planning on having a baby, man or woman, please take note and educate yourself, i promise you it’s worth it 🫶 ❤️💙👶