Brave Euan given a new lease of life

WHEN Jan Flannigan saw her son Euan surrounded by the bleeping and whirring machines that were keeping him alive, it took all her strength to stop herself from breaking down.

The Edinburgh woman was determined to stay strong for her frightened son who, just weeks before, had been playing rugby and cricket for his school.

The energetic youngster had been full of life until he contracted the flu – a virus that doctors suspect may be to blame for the heart condition that would lead to the then 13-year-old fighting for his life.

"He had normal flu, nothing untoward or anything," explains mum Jan. "At the time, we had no idea how serious it was."

His illness left Euan struggling to breathe and tests eventually showed that his heart was abnormally large.

Doctors reassured Jan and husband Keith, a print worker, that there was a good chance medication would help Euan recover. Then, on March 23 last year, he collapsed in the playground of his school, George Watson's College.

"I was so scared," recalls Jan, 41, of Greenbank. "The medicines he had been given obviously weren't working, but I still couldn't bring myself to think the worst."

With the medication failing and Euan becoming more poorly by the minute, doctors gave Jan and husband Keith, 49, the grave news that their son would not survive without a heart transplant. "I couldn't believe what I was hearing," says Jan. "Heart transplants were something you read about in the paper or saw on the TV."

Looking at Euan now, it is hard to believe his operation left him so debilitated that he was unable to walk after he suffered a stroke during the operation.

Now, less than eight months later, the Hibs fan is back on his feet and last week returned to PE classes, when he enthusiastically took part in an aerobics session. Now he is counting the days until he can once again join his teammates on the rugby field.

"I feel fine – totally back to normal," says Euan, who is now 14. "It's been really frustrating not being able to play rugby and cricket with my friends but hopefully that's something I'll be able to do again too."

The memory of his sudden plunge from the peak of fitness is something Euan also remembers clearly. "It felt as though I had run a hundred miles. It was really scary," he says. "When they told me I needed a transplant, I was really frightened because I didn't know what would happen."

On April 12, just over four weeks after he collapsed a school, Euan was transferred to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

His condition was deteriorating so rapidly that the decision was taken to hook him up to a mechanical heart – a device that would keep the blood pumping around his body.

"That's when I got scared," admits Jan. "But I had to be so strong for Euan – there was no way I could break down and cry. We had to be there for him and keep his spirits up.

"But although we were concerned about the transplant operation, we were more worried about what would happen if a heart didn't become available."

A donor was needed quickly as the mechanical heart would only keep Euan alive for 30 days. On May 6, just ten days after being put at the top of the transplant register, a heart became available.

"We rushed to the hospital and Euan was sat there with a big smile on his face," beams Jan. "He was hyper and excited and said 'this is it mum, I'm going to be fine'."

But while the tricky six-hour procedure to replace his heart was successful, when he was coming round, Jan noticed that all wasn't well. "As he was coming around we were all so excited, but I noticed that his left side wasn't moving," she says. "I told the nurse and Euan was asked to wiggle his toes, which he couldn't.

"I knew then he'd had a stroke. Call it a mothering instinct but I just knew. Looking back now, it was a wonder that I didn't go all hysterical. It was just awful." Since then, Euan's recovery has been remarkable. A month after his operation he returned to hospital in Edinburgh, and six days later, on June 14, he took his first tentative steps.

"When I saw Euan was walking it was so emotional – everyone was crying," adds Jan.

The Flannigan family are now backing an Evening News campaign to prevent specialist services being transferred from the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh – something that could happen under Scottish Government reforms for paediatric health services.

As they had no choice but to travel to Newcastle for the specialist care Euan needed, the family are well aware of the strains that travelling for treatment places on the family.

"It was hard for all of us to be separated at such an emotional time," says Jan. "I stayed in a hospital flat in Newcastle and Keith stayed in Edinburgh with Euan's eight-year-old sister Jayney. Jan and her son remained in Newcastle for almost two months.

Then, on June 8, Euan was transferred to the Sick Kids in Edinburgh and from there, the youngster's health went from strength to strength.

He took part in the Transplant Games in Edinburgh in July and, in August, amazed doctors by returning to join classmates in S3 at George Watson's.

"There are really no restrictions to what Euan can do at all," smiles Jan. "He's not allowed to go on a rollercoaster or do a parachute jump, but other than that he can do what he likes.

"We still have to take each day as it comes and I do worry that the heart might still be rejected, because that does happen sometimes. But if I woke up thinking about that every day, I wouldn't get through anything.

"Euan is so positive and he's back to the normal boy he was and, looking back at all the pictures, I can't believe where we were and how he is now."

SUPPORT PART OF CURE

THE Flannigan family is convinced that Euan's recovery from his heart operation was encouraged because they were all able to remain positive during what was such a traumatic time.

As Euan was learning to walk again, his mother, Jan says she was able to remain so strong and positive for Euan because of the support that she received at the Sick Kids Drop-in Centre in Edinburgh.

The Millerfield Place centre, which provided a home from home for Euan when he was recovering at the nearby Sick Kids Hospital, opened almost two years ago thanks to Evening News readers who raised £100,000 for the project.

The centre, which also offers relaxation therapies to stressed parents, was also awarded over £200,000 of National Lottery Good Causes funding.

A spokeswoman for the National Lottery said: "It's encouraging to see the impact that Lottery-funded facilities, such as the Sick Kids Drop-in Centre, have on the lives of families."

The National Lottery is currently campaigning to encourage charity workers to apply for funding and further details on applications are available at www.lotterygood causes.org.uk.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
To find out what you can do to support the Hands off the Sick Kids campaign, click here, or call health reporter Gareth Rose on 0131 620 8753.