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On June 12, 2019 after a pregnancy without complications or significant issues, we welcomed our second son Timothy into the world, by planned caesarean at 39 weeks. The start was promising, he was alert and curious and vocal, weighing in at a solid 8lb 3oz.

Two hours later in labour ward recovery, whilst Amanda was hanging up the phone with her mum in Australia and Timothy was attempting feeding, our world tipped entirely on its head. We noticed he was unusually still, and quickly realised that something was very wrong.

Timothy had stopped breathing and had a barely detectable heart beat. We called for the recovery nurse, and before we realised what was happening, she raced away with him and the alarms blared. In those few seconds, he had turned white and was gone.

Aggressive resuscitation was administered by the staff at King's College Hospital, and they were able to bring him back. It had taken 2 minutes to restore his breathing, but over 20 minutes before his heart rate would remain above 100 BPM.

With blood gases confirming that he had been deprived of oxygen, and in both kidney and liver failure, Timothy was moved into a transport incubator and rushed across the hall into the NICU. In the ICU, he was placed into a hypothermic state for the next 72 hours in order to give his brain the best chance of recovery and in the hope of avoiding further brain injury.

Shortly after arrival he began having multiple and repeated seizures which they were struggling to control. His prognosis did not look good.

Incredibly, with the efforts of the NICU staff, Timothy was able to turn the table and the seizures stopped. Slowly but surely medications were decreased and withdrawn, and by day 5 our little fighter was fed up with the ventilator and tried to pull his own tube out.

This was the start of the beginning for us all, as Timothy went on to remain on the ward for a further 9 weeks. During this time, Timothy's medical team tried to find an answer for what caused his postnatal collapse, as further issues in his health became clear including new seizure-like episodes which earned him a second transfer to ICU and two stays in High Dependency, as well as many weeks in Special Care. Other problems included severe hypotonia (floppiness), weight gain issues, feeding and swallowing issues, and the continued occurrence of these "episodes".

He was finally deemed safe to discharge home on August 19, 2019.

Our journey with Timothy continues, as he remains undiagnosed with a suspected neurological genetic condition. He still continues to suffer from hypotonia, which has caused significant physical developmental delays. Whilst his severe weight gain issues have come under control, he is xtill fed exclusively via nasal-gastric (NG) tube, which has been in place since his collapse, as his muscle weakness has caused an unsafe swallow and means he is prone to aspirating fluids and food into his lungs. His seizure-like episodes continue, usually at least once a day if not more, and he sustains an absent state for their duration. It will be a long and difficult journey, and a diagnosis may never be found.

Despite all of this, he is a bright and smiley little boy who adores his 4 year old brother, and continues to battle on, unlocking new achievements as he goes.

We have chosen to support the Ickle Pickles charity in celebration of Timothy's first birthday. Whilst he was not a preemie baby, he would not be here without the equipment and provisions of care made available to us from the King's College Hospital NICU. Ickle Pickles helps to raise funds for the Intensive Care equipment keeping premature and critically unwell babies alive in neonatal units across the country, and we are extremely fortunate that King's is one of those hospitals who benefits from their support.

The major pieces of equipment which sustained Timothy in those initial 72 hours are a mind-numbing figure for purchase:

Transport incubator: £60,000

Giraffe incubator: £25,000

Ventilator: £25,000

Brain monitor: £22,000

Cooling control unit: £14,000

Every penny pledged truly does make a difference.

In a sign of our eternal gratitude to King's College Hospital for saving our son and providing him with his extended care, we will be nominating them to receive any of the monies we are able to raise for the donation to Ickle Pickles.

Thank you for your support, for taking the time to read our story, and if you have been with us from the beginning, thank you for your love, care and best wishes. He is a fighter, our miracle boy, and we are proud to be his parents.