Jamie's story

 

We were very touched by William's story & we would like to tell you the story of our youngest son Jamie, who was a bright, happy, very cheeky little boy.

Jamie died in June 2007 from Medulloblastoma, aged 3 years 11 months. He had seemed in perfect health until 2 weeks before he died, when he started vomiting & complaining of a headache. Jamie seemed very lethargic, so we took him to the GP three times & to A&E once, but they all said it was just a virus.

On our fourth visit to the GP, he was referred back to the hospital for further investigation & he was admitted to a children's ward. Blood tests showed no sign of an infection, so the paediatrician was looking for gastric problems. Overnight Jamie seemed very uncomfortable & did not seem well at all, but the Doctors & nurses were not concerned.

In the morning, Jamie began having seizures & he was taken for a CT scan. This showed a large tumor in the back of his skull & a large amount of fluid build-up. By this time, Jamie needed to be resuscitated & rushed to Addenbrookes for surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain, but it was too late & he had suffered brain stem damage. The next day, Jamie was pronounced brain stem dead & we were approached about donating Jamie's organs.

Jamie donated his kidneys, liver, heart & lungs, hopefully saving 3 lives.

We all miss him very much and find it very difficult to come to terms with.

Paul & Helen Slater