An Angus couple have spoken lovingly of their two-year-old son’s determination and character following his tragic death.
Oliver Boyd died in Newcastle’s Great North Children’s Hospital on January 10, surrounded by his family, after birth-related complications with his lungs led to an uncontrollable level of CO2 in his blood.
His devastated mum Heather and dad Paul said their son had made them, and many others, proud after battling a rare and life-threatening disease called Omenn Syndrome since birth, but were distraught that they had lost their boy to an unrelated problem.
“He had a great quality to him, whether he was in the hospital or at home,” said Paul. “He has made us all very proud because he never gave up.”
Heather said: “He never complained once. He was always smiling and happy.”
Most children who are born with Omenn syndrome die within their first year without it being diagnosed.
However, Oliver’s life was saved by a bone marrow donation from his sister Abigail who was only nine years old at the time.
The two-year-old spent the majority of his short life indoors to prevent infection and receive oxygen. He also spent weeks in hospital receiving treatment, or in the car travelling between both places.
There were several close calls when doctors said that Oliver would not pull through operations or upsets, only to prove them wrong with what his parents described as an “inspirational determination”.
Heather said: “When he was fighting, he was still happy, but his lungs just gave up last week.
“On Wednesday we got concerned about his oxygen requirement as it had gone up.
“We took him to the hospital in Newcastle and we were all in agreement that something wasn’t right.
“They gave him intravenous steroids to see if that would help but his blood tests showed that his carbon dioxide levels were very high.
“They admitted us on Thursday and then they said that he did not have long left. They said his blood gas was at an uncontrollable level.”
Heather added a special mention for Oliver’s sister Abigail, whose selfless donation of bone marrow gave the family two years with their son that they otherwise would not have had.
“Abigail was very protective of him and they were very close together he called her Aba,” she said.
The family have requested any donations be made to the Bubble Foundation.