‘You never think you’re going to be in that situation until you are’
An Orphir couple are to make massive strides for a charity supporting sick children, after their little boy’s stay at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.
Calum Slater is as full of life as any five-year-old — but last month, a rare illness saw him transferred to Aberdeen by air ambulance. In what was an unimaginably fraught time, parents Ian Slater and Kerry Omand, were touched by the comfort and support offered by the Archie Foundation.
This Sunday, the couple plan to walk the 59km coastline of Kerry’s home island, South Ronaldsay, in aid of the charity, which specifically helps children and their families at the hospital. The fundraiser has already attracted over £3,700 in donations.
Mum-of-two Kerry, this week, recalled how what was first thought to be a cold and fever turned out to be a much graver illness. Like many peedie boys his age, Calum has a great love for John Deere tractors, an infectious smile, and seemingly boundless energy. But near the end of the school term, it became clear that he wasn’t his usual self.
Calum was kept off school for a couple of days due to what looked like a cold. On June 24, still poorly but happy in himself, he was treated at home with Calpol and Ibroprufen and tucked into bed.
All seemed normal until Ian came home from working on the farm in the early hours. Calum came through to the corridor — feverish, vomiting and struggling for breath.
Ian rushed his son to The Balfour, a ten minute drive from home. Remaining at home with their youngest, Lily, Kerry soon received the call that every parent dreads — Calum needed to be flown to Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital. After quickly packing her bags and contacting her mother to come stay with Lily, Kerry made her way to the Balfour, where Calum had been moved up to ward from A&E.
He was being closely monitored and had received help with his breathing.
Kerry recalled: “I spoke to the consultants there who’d been with him through the night checking on him, and they’d made the decision quite early on to contact the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, and they just wanted to see him in person which made sense.”
In the morning, Calum and Kerry flew down to Aberdeen by air ambulance, with an ambulance on the ground waiting to transport them to the children’s hospital as soon as they landed. “His symptoms seemed to peak and drop quite a bit,” said Kerry. “He’d be fine, and then he’d go really unwell, and then he’d be fine. It was very up and down.”
Though it was now thought that Calum might be fighting croup, Kerry was beginning to suspect that this may be something more untoward. The fever of over 40C that Calum had had overnight was a real worry. An x-ray soon showed that Calum’s windpipe was inflamed and this led to a concerning diagnosis.
“The consultant believed that Calum had developed Bacterial Tracheitis, which if you google it is pretty horrendous,” said Kerry. “It’s extremely rare. They’ve never seen it at ARI before in the children’s ward. “It can be fatal if it’s not treated promptly.”
Bacterial Tracheitis is a potentially lethal infection of the airways, which without fast treatment can have devastating effects. It is a testament to the skill and knowledge of all involved that Calum’s symptoms were recognised so quickly and that he has managed to make a fast recovery.
The five-year-old was put on an intravenous drip for three days with antibiotic steroids and pain relief before he was able to be transferred back to Orkney with antibiotics. The whole experience would be difficult for anyone, but in a child so young it was infinitely more terrifying.
“He’s five years old, so he’s still quite small,” said Kerry. “He was just finishing primary one. “It was a lot for him. I felt like he did so well. He was really brave the whole time, but it’s just a lot for a five-year-old to go through.
“The pain as well — it’s very painful, the treatment like the drugs going into the cannula. It was just tough going for him.” In Aberdeen, Calum was provided with his own room in case he was infectious, and it was there that Kerry found her reprieve. “On the ward, there is a room called the pit-stop and in it were fridges, a kettle, a microwave and a sofa — all for the use of parents and carers of children,” she told The Orcadian.
Funded by the Archie Foundation, the pit-stop was a place where families and carers could go and take a breath, a brief reprieve in the chaos of a hospital. This touching effort by the charity made Kerry keen to give back.
“When we did get home on Sunday afternoon, we spoke about it a lot as a family then, because it’s really, really scary,” said the mum. “And when you’re thrown into that situation you’re just so unprepared.
“When we went to bed that night we would never have dreamed we’d be in that situation the next morning, and that little bit of support from the Archie Foundation actually was huge.”
Though still not 100 per cent back to his normal self, Calum is now back home, playing and laughing again, and well on the road to a full recovery. Kerry and Ian hope their effort on Sunday will be a small token of thanks for the support the charity provided.
“It’s just a lot to get your head around, and it’s very cliche — I know a lot of folk say this, but you never think you’re going to be in that situation until you are, and to be honest we just felt like we were just so grateful,” said Kerry. “That was probably the biggest feeling.
“You feel so many emotions, but our biggest emotion was just pure gratitude and so grateful that Calum got the outcome and the care and help that he needed. Originally setting a £2,000 target, the couple have already raised over double that amount.
“There’s so many people to thank, but if we could give something back to that charity that’s helping so many people,” said Kerry.
“We are just blown away with folks’ generosity,” added Ian. “The challenge doesn’t really feel like a challenge now because we’ve had so much support from friends and family. It’s unbelievable.”
To donate towards the fundraiser, visit www.justgiving.com/page/kerry-omand-1