A Miracle...

This is the full story of what happened to one of our Year 8 pupils just before Christmas.  I copied it from a Solihull News Facebook page..

Thieves steal Christmas presents as Solihull teenager fights for life.
Callous thieves stole a teenager’s Christmas presents as he fought for his life in hospital.  They struck as Reece Hooton received emergency treatment for two cardiac arrests....  His grandma Jean’s car was raided – laden down with his favourite Lego kits – after she raced to his bedside.

“I’d been speaking to Reece while he was on a ventilator and saying he needed to get better so he could have his Lego,” said the devastated pensioner.  "To find it all gone was devastating.
“The presents were in the boot covered up but they were the last thing on my mind when Reece was taken ill.  “I am so angry that someone could do it.”

Reece, aged 13 and from Dickens Heath will spend Christmas Day on a ventilator at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.  He collapsed at Alderbrook School last Tuesday and owes his life to emergency first aid given by a staff member.  His family believe Reece, an asthmatic, could have had an allergic reaction to nuts which caused his heart to stop.  He had complained of feeling unwell and had been sent to the school nurse when he collapsed.

Jean and Reece’s mum Donna arrived at the school to find four emergency response vehicles, an ambulance and helicopter waiting.  Jean said: “When I got there Donna hadn’t been allowed to see him  "He was inside and they were working on him.  When he came out he was covered in blood because they’d had to open his sides to put drains in him.  It was awful.”

Reece was taken to hospital while Jean and Donna followed behind in an emergency response car.
They arrived to find he had suffered a second cardiac arrest in the ambulance.  “When we got to A&E the whole of the response team were waiting for us,” Jean said.  They fitted him to a ventilator and warned us he was seriously ill. Life threatening were their words.  But he is doing marvellously now.
The doctors said he was very lucky because someone his age doesn’t normally survive a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital.  They also said he wouldn’t be here if the matron at the school had not performed CPR on him.  They saved his life.”

Jean discovered the presents were missing on Friday morning.

Shortly after this story hit Facebook the family were inundated with replacement presents from people all over the local community.  Against all expectations Reece even made it home for a little of the Christmas period.

This brave young man was back in school last week.  He was supposed to be following a reduced timetable but decided that he wanted to get on with doing full days.  I was seriously emotional when he arrived in my classroom for the final lesson of the week on Friday.  And the lovely thing is..... he's just the same 'cheeky charmer' that he's always been!


Jx