Lily-June Lacey's story

Hi this is my story about my little girl Lily-June Lacey born on 29th January 2009. In February last year my daughter Lily-June had her bottle and fell asleep like normal, so me and her dad put her down in her cot to sleep and so did we .

At around 3am Lily woke up with sick and thick mucus coming out her nose and mouth, and she also had a temperature of 38. I was worrying but she didn’t seem in any distress, she seemed calm.

We put Lily in our bed and she looked at her daddy and gave him a little smile before falling back to sleep.

In the morning John, Lily’s dad, got ready for work and took our older son to nursery so me and Lily stayed in bed.

We woke up at 10am and I woke Lily up to change her bum. She had tiny little purple spots all on her back and bottom. I got a glass out and the rash didn’t go. I knew she had it but I just couldn’t believe it, it was like a dream.

I rang the doctor while Lily was in the bouncer – they told me to go straight down to them. Lily was now moaning and closing her eyes like she was in pain. I ran to the doctors and rang my partner telling him I think she had it.

At the doc Lily had now more spots all on her arms, face and neck and they were getting bigger. She was now limp and pushing out her back in pain. The doctor said it’s just a chest infection but to be sure rang 999 and gave her an injection. The needle was so big but Lily didn’t move. In the ambulance they said maybe just an infection but I knew it was bad.

She was rushed straight in to hospital and she had doctors all around her trying to hook her up to life support, as by this time she couldn’t breathe on her own. I said to one of the doctors ‘she’s got it hasn’t she?’. He said yes and I broke down, my poor tiny little girl just lying there helpless. My heart felt crushed.

Lily was then in a incubator with drips and drugs all over her. We couldn’t see he face because of the tubes coming in and out of her nose and mouth. She had lines in her neck arms and legs. Lily was moved to Nottingham Hospital where she would have one-to-one care. The first night was touch and go and she had to have a blood transfusion.

Our tiny Lily was six months old but she looked like a three year old – she had puffed up with all the fluid they were pumping in to her. Lily had fluid on her lungs which meant they kept having to suck all the thick sticky fluid out. Lily was sedated as she kept pulling the lines out and we knew she was a fighter .Lily stayed in intensive care for two weeks then moved back to Derby Hospital where she was on oxygen and in a oxygen box .

Every day Lily got better and better. It was hard for her learning to breathe again so was in and out of oxygen until she got the hang of breathing on her own.

Now Lily is home and she is two in July. She is our little fighter and even though she gets ill a lot she fights it and will be so strong. She still has to go for check-ups every four months until she is three but they are so pleased with her.

We were the lucky ones and my heart goes out to the ones that weren’t as lucky. God bless the angels in the sky.

Charlotte Pettitt
April  2011