Essex Mum's shock at baby son's stroke at just 12 minutes old
Mum Rachel Witney is raising awareness that stroke can happen to children and babies
A mum has described her shock at her newborn baby boy having a stroke only minutes after being born.
Austin, now six, was just 12 minutes old when doctors realised something was wrong.
His mother Rachel Witney, from Colchester in Essex, said: “His lips started turning blue so obviously we knew quite quickly something was wrong.
"From there it went into panic mode... The alarm got hit, we had doctors and nurses running in and out. I had no idea what was happening.”
Austin has cerebral palsy and weakness to his right side.
Within hours of falling ill, Austin was transferred from Colchester to Luton and Dunstable University Hospital where CT scans revealed he had suffered a stroke.
Ms Witney said: “I don’t think I was thinking a lot apart from utter shock, to be honest with you.
"I thought stroke only happened to older people, that’s the only experience I’d had with it.
"I didn’t know babies could have strokes so we were just confused and shocked and [had] lots of questions.”
She left hospital with no prognosis, unsure whether Austin would ever walk or talk and with no answers as to why he suffered a stroke.
Six years on, Austin is exceeding expectations after a scary start to his life.
“He loves nothing more than running and talking and being in the garden, helping with all sorts of jobs around the house," his mum said.
"He's great fun and he's doing incredibly well. He doesn't let anything stop him."
Strokes happen to around 400 children every year in the UK.
Unlike adults, there is no national register keeping a record of them and their progress.
Ms Witney and other parents believe it is time there was one.
She said: “I’m not saying it would have changed what happened to Austin - he was going to have the stroke - however treatment and care could have perhaps been sooner”.
Sara Betsworth, from the Stroke Association, said: “We’re not really capturing and gathering and synthesising that data and doing enough research which would of course improve care eventually hopefully.
"The funding isn't there for that kind of resource at the moment so we would certainly support any work there was around to create something like that.”
How spot signs of stroke in children
Alexis Kolodziej, from the Stroke Association, said: "The most important message for parents is, if something comes on really suddenly and you're worried, trust your instinct, call 999, say you suspect a stroke, so you can get to a stroke unit as soon as possible."
She said the "FAST" test (Face drooping? Arm weakness? Speech difficulties? Time to call 999) can be used on children, but it may be difficult if children are not speaking yet.
She listed other possible symptoms:
sudden severe headache
seizures (something that happens in stroke in children that doesn't normally happen in adults)
problems with walking or balance
sudden nausea, vomiting
sudden blurred vision
weakness on one side of the body
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