A four-month-old baby was admitted to hospital over the Christmas period after testing positive and becoming seriously unwell with coronavirus.
Baby Grayson's mum Lara and dad Macaulley, from Tonyrefail, said what they initially put down to teething turned out to be much more serious.
The little one tested positive for the virus after coming into contact with two family members who were asymptomatic over the Christmas period. After a positive lateral flow result on December 27, the family contacted everyone they had been in contact with.
Lara and Macaulley said Grayson had been very lethargic and had slept most of the day on December 28, but had many symptoms that correlated to him teething like a high temperature and being under the weather.
Read more: Woman, 22, put in coma after contracting Covid-19 learns to walk and talk again
During the night Grayson became more unwell and very grizzly and restless and his voice became raspy and hoarse, said Lara, with both parents up most of the night with him.
Lara said: "He had a runny nose, he was screaming and coughing which sounded like a bark."
They took Grayson to the doctors the following day where he had a temperature of 39.4C and a heart rate of 210 when it should be between 80 and 160 for babies his age. His skin was mottled and grey.
Lara said: "The doctors were afraid that with all of the above he was going to ‘crash’ and were basically waiting for his heart to stop or go into cardiac arrest. At this point my partner Macaulley and I were in bits knowing there was nothing we could possibly do to help."
After being warned of a wait of around eight hours for an ambulance the couple decided to rush Grayson to hospital themselves, where the doctors took his blood and fitted a cannula to pump fluids and strong antibiotics into the four-month-old. Lara said that during their first day in hospital, due to not sleeping, Grayson seemed exhausted and had no energy to cry, and didn't even flinch when the nurse inserted the cannula.
Lara described the whole event as "stressful" and said she just felt "helpless" that Grayson was so unwell. She added it was surprising to the couple that Grayson became so ill, as they were under the impression that it would only mildly affect children.
After a positive Covid result came back Grayson was closely monitored and by the evening had stabilised. Lara said: "Luckily Grayson is a strong boy and with the right help has recovered well, even though if we hadn’t trusted our instincts when we had I’m not sure what the outcome could have been but I dread to even think about it."
Lara is now imploring parents to be more aware, adding that if their child does become unwell to get them checked as soon as possible for Covid. Describing their time in hospital, Lara said: "Eight children under three tested positive and were very ill during the two days we spent in the hospital and now myself and Macaulley have both tested positive for Covid since coming home from hospital."
She hopes by sharing their experience it will raise awareness and help parents to act quickly before their little ones become unwell. Luckily Grayson is now at home with mum and dad and is doing much better.
To get the latest news sent straight to your email inbox sign up for our free WalesOnline newsletter by clicking here .
