To thank the staff who have looked after her one-year-old son since he was born, first-time mum Scarlett signed Tyrone up to join our Halloween themed 1k walk for under 4s at Temple Newsam.

Scarlett is so grateful to staff at Leeds Children’s Hospital who always go above and beyond to look after her little boy when he is unwell:

“I thought this event was a wonderful way for Tyrone to get involved in fundraising and for our little family to show our appreciation for the staff at the children’s hospital, we can’t advocate them enough. We’ve created such a strong bond with them, they’re like a second family to us!”

At 16 weeks pregnant, a routine scan revealed that Scarlett’s baby boy had an enlarged kidney. Scarlett was transferred from her local hospital in York to Leeds General Infirmary, where doctors discovered that Tyrone was retaining a lot of water.

It wasn’t until Tyrone was born, that he was diagnosed with Vesicoureteral Reflux and needed to be transferred to the Neonatal Unit at Leeds Children’s Hospital.

Vesicoureteral Reflux is caused by urine backing up to the kidneys because of problems with the tube carrying urine from the kidney to the bladder, it only affects between 1 to 3 percent of children.

The severity of this condition is graded from 1 to 5, and Tyrone was diagnosed with grade 5 on both kidneys, meaning he was at risk of developing kidney infections. From birth to 8 months old, Tyrone suffered from around 12 water infections.

In February, Tyrone had an injection to try and reduce his likelihood of developing urinary tract infections (UTIs) and in August he underwent surgery on his bladder.

Tyrone’s mum Scarlett says:

“We didn’t imagine that as first-time parents we’d have to learn the signs of when our little boy has a water infection. We’ve had to rush Tyrone back and forth from our home to the hospital so many times, it’s been stressful, but we cannot fault the staff, thanks to their fast-acting efforts, Tyrone has avoided developing an kidney infection.”

A member of the Urology team who particularly stands out to Scarlett and her husband is Mr Turner, Scarlett was blown away by his compassion to their family when COVID meant they couldn’t visit Tyrone on the ward together.

“It has been really difficult during COVID when only one of us can be by Tyrone’s side at a time when he’s poorly. I remember after one of Tyrone’s procedures, my husband had to wait in the car outside and I when I told Mr Turner, even though he was ready to finish work, he took the time to go and explain to him exactly what was happening and how Tyrone was doing, I was so touched by this.”

 

You can support Tyrone by donating to his fundraising page here https://leedshospitalscharity.enthuse.com/pf/tyrone-roy-whatnell-c19e6

If you’re interested in signing your little one to join Tyrone and hundreds of other tots at our Children’s Toddle, click the button below.

Register your toddler for free here