Mum praises medicos
BLAKE Sheen jokes about his "ninja-coccal" but his parents know there's nothing funny about a disease that nearly killed their five-year-old just six months ago.
They also know that if it was not for the speed of a string of paramedics, doctors and nurses in recognising and treating the purple bruise-like symptoms of meningococcal septicaemia, they would have faced a Christmas and New Year cloaked in grief.
In a heartfelt letter penned by Blake’s grateful mum Jarna McIntosh and sent to The Cairns Post, she asked how it was possible to thank so many people for saving their child’s life.
"To you all, thank you for giving our son a second chance," Ms McIntosh wrote.
"Thank you for giving us our beautiful boy back.
"Thank you for being there for us, thank you for everything, thank you."
Ms McIntosh said apart from a few small scars left by the deeper of the lesions that had covered his body at the height of the disease in early July, Blake was "doing amazingly" and was excited about starting school.
On Christmas Day, Ms McIntosh said she, Blake’s father and the boy’s big sister Shayla, 10, had marvelled at how lucky they all were to have come through the nightmare.
"I’ve always appreciated and loved my kids but this has really just reminded me about how so lucky we are," she said.
"It could have been so different.
"If we hadn’t known, from other parents telling their story, about what to look for or that meningococcal was such a bad thing and that minutes count, it would have been different.
"In the ambulance they told us Blake wouldn’t have made it if we had called them an hour or even half an hour later than we did." Once at Cairns Base Hospital, Ms McIntosh said the medical attention was "like a whirlwind", with nine hospital staff working on Blake at one stage.
As it was, Blake spent four days clinging to life in intensive care then about two weeks in recovery.
But despite his close call, Ms McIntosh said her lively son liked to talk about what happened and asked lots of questions.
"He likes to show people his scars," she said.
"He’s got two side-by-side on his arm and he says ‘That’s my snake bite’.
"He’s a real little character."
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Grateful: Jarna McIntosh cherishes every moment with her children Shayla, 10 and Blake, 5, after her son’s meningococcal scare (below).
Grateful: Jarna McIntosh cherishes every moment with her children Shayla, 10 and Blake, 5, after her son’s meningococcal scare (below).
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