Family stranded in Portugal with seriously ill toddler who went from 'bouncy self' to being unable to sit up or talk
22.09.2023 - 18:55
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A couple whose two-year-old son is seriously ill and in hospital amid a holiday to Portugal say they are in a 'living nightmare'. Paul and Sarah Jones are desperate to bring son Theo back home for treatment but claim insurers won’t cover the cost.
Their little boy went from being his usual bouncy self, jumping in and out of the pool on holiday in the Algarve to being unable to talk, walk, sit up or feed himself, said Sarah. He is now in hospital in Faro under the care of paediatric neurologists who have diagnosed a possible brain virus.
The nightmare began when Theo fell and hit his head in their holiday apartment in the resort of Cabanas on September 13, three days into their three week break. When the toddler began vomiting and seemed unwell they called an ambulance.
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Doctors did a CT scan, which showed no injury. They discharged Theo telling Paul and Sarah, who are from Maesteg, to come back if the vomiting returned, reports WalesOnline.
When Theo didn’t wake next morning and was drowsy and floppy they took him back to hospital. “We watched him like a hawk all night and in the morning when we tried to rouse him he was barely there so we called a cab for the hospital,” said Sarah.
Theo was eventually admitted to the Hospital of Faro on Friday September 15, where doctors said he had gastroenteritis. But Sarah felt it was something more serious and pleaded for an MRI scan which revealed an infection in the back area of Theo’s brain, the cerebellum.
“He could not communicate or move. he was