Blow for family as Theo's battle continues
Last updated 20:10, Thursday, 17 July 2008
A KESWICK baby given just weeks to live is back on a ventilator as he struggles to breathe.
Last week one-year-old Theo Giles Davies came off the ventilator and baffled doctors by breathing on his own.
However, this week his heart has been struggling, and doctors at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital have put him back on the ventilator.
His grandfather Stephen Giles, 49, of Moss Bay, Workington, said it was devastating for the family but they were not giving up hope.
He said: “Last week we were delighted because Theo was breathing on his own, but the poor lad’s heart is really struggling and he has had to go back onto a machine.
“We are now back to square one, which is devastating but we will not give up on him because he hasn’t given up. He is fighting it all the way.”
Theo, who was born with half a heart, needs a transplant to save his life but the family have so far had no word of a donation.
Mr Giles said: “Theo has lived longer than the two weeks he was first given by doctors, which is great, but the uncertainty of it all is terrible.”
Theo celebrated his first birthday last Thursday and he received hundreds of cards.
Mr Giles said: “It is nice that people have taken the time to send cards.”
He added that the notes inside were very touching.
Theo, whose parents Rebecca Giles and Ryan Davies live at Tithebarn Street, Keswick, was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which affects one in every 5,000 babies.
Even if a donor is found, Mr Giles warned it is possible that Theo’s body will reject the new organ, due to the build-up of antibodies in his blood.
