A three-year-old called Joe Way who said NO Way! as TEN deadly hospital viruses tried to finish him off.
The brave tot—who suffers from TWO debilitating rare disorders— floored bacterial superbaddies including Clostridium Difficile and E-Coli as well as a swarm of other airborne ward infections that took him to the brink of death TWICE.
And Joe caught them all over a period of EIGHT MONTHS at two different hospitals.
His mum Claire, 32, told the News of the World that she and Joe's dad Matt, 35, had even planned his funeral at one stage.
Blister
"Joe was that close to dying," she said. "The doctor told us to call his grandparents around so we could all be at his bedside to say goodbye—but he just kept battling and amazed everyone. It's as if he's superhuman."
From birth Joe has had to face tremendous odds. He survived meningitis at a week old and a severe lung infection at four months.
But his battle with the superbugs came after he contracted Steven Johnson Syndrome—an illness that caused his skin to blister.
Last June the little lad was rushed to the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, close to death.
He fought back but, because of his sores and the bugs in the air at hospitals, he contracted Klebsiella Pneumonia, which caused organ failure and septic shock.
Claire, also mum to five-year-old Megan, said: "Matt and I had to stand by and watch as Joe's whole body blistered up. It was like seeing your child burn in a fire without being able to pull him out.
"Then he caught his first superbug while he was still in recovery. The doctors told me he was one of the sickest kids in the country."
Little Joe's skin became so inflated with fluid, doctors considered cutting it to relieve the pressure.
When Joe's kidneys failed he was transferred to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children's high dependency unit for two months.
Claire said: "We were told the journey to Bristol could kill him, but it was his best chance of survival because they had the equipment to keep him alive."
Joe—who also has Angelman's Syndrome which has left him with severe learning difficulties and jerky body movements—survived the trip only to catch THREE more superbugs in his two months at Bristol.
He got the notorious Clostridium Difficile which causes diarrhoea and bleeding; ESBL Klebsiella, a less serious strain of the first superbug he caught and E Coli, a severe intestinal infection.
Claire, of Newquay, Cornwall, does not blame the hospitals. She said: "All the nurses and doctors were brilliant. I can't fault them.
"We understand Joe got all these bugs because he was a very sick little boy to start with."
He recovered enough to be transferred back to Truro in September 2006—but his troubles still weren't over. He caught SIX more bugs.
Enterobacter Sakazakii which attacks the urinary tract.
Gram Negative Staphylococcus, a blood infection that affects patients with weak immunity.
Pseudomonas, which causes a series of infections attacking the skin, lungs and joints
Klebsiella pneumonia, the one he first caught
Staphylococcus aureus, a relative of MRSA which can cause toxic shock
Pseudomonas bacteremia—Joe developed symptoms of this bug which causes a high temperature after going home following his triumph over the others.
He finally fought off the last bug three weeks ago.
"Joe is just doing great now. He is still poorly but his smile and laughter are back," said Claire.
"He is a little miracle. There are so many times we've had our hearts in our mouths these last three years." Joe's consultant paediatrician, Nicki Gilbertson, of the Royal Cornwall Hospital, said: "Joe's a real fighter and he has shown great courage and resilience in dealing with all the complications his complex condition makes him susceptible to."
A spokesman for the Bristol Royal Children's Hospital added: "Joe developed several complications resulting from his original life-threatening illness. Our staff endeavoured to care for him as well as we possibly could and each time he has suffered from an infection he has pulled through. We're now hopeful he will continue his recovery."
Joe's dad Matt, 35, manager of Hendra Holiday Park, Newquay, said: "Although Joe spent most of the last 12 months in hospital, he makes the best of what each day can bring.
"He is an inspiration and constantly amazes us all."
SAVED BY COURAGE
By Hilary Jones, News of the World doctor
WHAT a little battler! Joe is up to 50 per cent more likely to catch superbugs than other hospital patients due to his very weak condition. It is amazing he has fought off ten of them. Fingers crossed, the longer he goes on fighting the better his body will be able to cope with any more problems. Credit has to go to the medical staff who have treated him. And both hospitals can not be blamed for Joe picking up these bugs in his weakened state with open sores.
Bugs thrive in hospitals because of a combination of the number of patients with low immune systems and the antibiotics used to treat them, which help bacteria and viruses mutate.
In each case Joe would also be treated with various types of antibotics. Research is still being carried out into superbug treatments and there is no one antibiotic that can combat them all. Victims need plenty of fluids and are often kept in isolation.
But, more often than not, it is the courageous fighting spirit of the patient that is the key to survival. And Joe is a fighter.
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