Force star nearly lost son to disease
Nick Taylor, The West AustralianApril 9, 2013, 4:37 am
http://l.yimg.com/ea/img/-/130409/08...PjPYSMKsi21Q--Brett Sheehan and fiancee Laura Field and their son Brody. Picture: Lee Griffith/The West Australian
Western Force and Wallabies scrum-half Brett Sheehan has taken a few knocks in his rugby career but nothing could prepare him for the hit he took when he came close to losing his baby son.
Sheehan and fiancee Laura Field got three-month-old Brody to Princess Margaret Hospital with just minutes to spare and then spent a seven-day bedside vigil after he was diagnosed with a potentially deadly meningococcal B disease.
The couple want other parents to be vigilant and aware of the dangers.
"Like every parent we had been told what to look out for, a rash, that sort of thing, but there were no outward signs," Sheehan said.
"The message we want to put over is for people to be diligent and if there is the smallest of concerns, don't hesitate."
The couple had taken their baby to a doctor on the Tuesday before Easter because he had a blocked nose. They were told he probably had a cold.
Brody then had a fever, became lethargic and on Good Friday vomited badly. They also found blood in his nappy.
"As I cradled him, his skin went grey and his hands and feet went purple," Sheehan said.
"His breathing went down to a moan and his eyes were open but he wasn't focusing on anything. We rushed off to PMH.
" Thank God it was Good Friday and there was no traffic on the road because 20 or 30 minutes later and he might not be here today."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-...on-to-disease/
