Thank you !
Thank you so much to everyone for your kindness and lovely messages.
We've been very busy!
Thank you to those who told the true story but also thanks to those who used a big dose of artistic license to spice up their stories.
We weren't very happy about some articles but as these articles have helped to increase awareness of Group B Strep Meningitis we are at least happy about that.
Tommy now has hemiplegia cerebral palsy and a cyst on his brain after his battle with GBS.
It really was a fight for his life.
A lot of people have asked what happened to Tommy and we would like to explain more here.
Tommy was born at exactly 39 weeks of pregnancy.
Unfortunately my waters broke and Tommy wasn't ready to be born .
The hospital did not give me antibiotics or deliver Tommy .
Unknown to myself I was a carrier of the Group B Strep virus and the NHS don't test for this , despite lots of babies becoming very sick or dying every year .
I was left for 5 days after my waters had been confirmed broken by a midwife and doctor before he was delivered by c-section.
Tommy was born with an apgar score of 1.
This is very bad and he wasn't breathing and needed some serious intervention and intensive care and ventilation.
It is a miracle he is alive today and had a very rough first 18 months.
Lots of therapies and intervention that wasn't nice for him at all.
He did eventually learn to walk but still can't walk for long distances or run as fast as other children.
He has problems with his fine motor skills ,balance and concentration.
At school he has a lap top to help him because he finds gripping a pencil difficult .
Walking and using his hands causes pain , stiffness and spasms but he is doing so well and pushing himself to try new things ( he taught himself to swim last year and is like a little fish now ) he is like a different child .
Tommy will describe having hemiplegia as a feeling of heaviness in his limbs and twitching pain.
Although he gets on with life this is what he will live with for life.
Unless you know him and know his story you really wouldn't know that he had been through so much in his short life and that he had to try so much harder than other kids to achieve simple things.
He really is a miracle.
Little things like doing up buttons or a zip are a big challenge for Tommy and of course some things
will always be but he won't let that hold him back .
We are so proud of Tommy.
He is a kind, sweet and brave boy who has the heart of warrior and is as stubborn as a mule.
This is why he has achieved so much and never given up.
I know he will have hemiplegia for life but I also know that he will continue to push himself and achieve more and more.
He has improved so much in the last year and it has been wonderful to see.
We are so proud to call this polite little gentleman our son .
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