Little 18-month-old toddler is rushed to hospital suffering from kidney failure after eating seagull droppings while playing in his garden
- Jaydon Pritchard, from Anglesey, rushed to hospital by ambulance after falling ill
- Medics put him on a dialysis machine and he received three blood transfusions
- His mystery illness was eventually identified by a specialist team in Liverpool
An 18-month-old boy suffered kidney failure after he ate seagull droppings while playing in his garden.
Jaydon Pritchard, from Amlwch in Anglesey, was rushed to hospital by ambulance after his grandparents heard him making a ‘horrible noise’ and saw he was having a ‘fit’.
After arriving in hospital he was hooked up to a dialysis machine and received three blood transfusions, and is now ‘much better, but still not out of the woods’, family say.
Jaydon Pritchard, from Amlwch in Anglesey, was rushed to hospital by ambulance after his grandparents heard him making a ‘horrible noise’ and saw he was having a ‘fit’
The traumatic ordeal began on Tuesday, April 6, when Jaydon was taken to see a doctor after feeling unwell for the previous couple of days.
The doctor referred Jaydon to the local Ysbyty Gwynedd hospital where he was later discharged after his family were told that he was suffering from a mystery ‘virus’.
His grandfather, Arwel Pritchard, said Jaydon ‘didn’t do anything apart from sleep and be sick’ the next day until later on in the evening, when they heard a ‘horrible noise coming from his cot’.
‘He was having a fit, so we called for an ambulance straight away,’ said Mr Pritchard.
‘He had another fit before the ambulance arrived and another three fits on the way to the hospital. It was like he was looking through you. He didn’t recognise anyone.
‘There was a point where we really thought we were going to lose him. It was horrific.’
After being rushed to hospital for a second time, a team from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool were sent to pick up Jaydon within a few hours.
He was hooked up to a dialysis machine and received three blood transfusions during his 19-day stay at the children’s hospital.
After arriving in hospital he was hooked up to a dialysis machine and received three blood transfusions, and is now ‘much better, but still not out of the woods’ (he is seen in hospital with his mother, Tiffany)
It was only after Jaydon was examined by the specialist team that the cause of his illness was identified.
‘The doctors diagnosed him with kidney failure and told us that he had E. coli poisoning from having ingested the seagull faeces,’ said Mr Pritchard.
‘We were fearing the worst at the time, seeing his little body hooked up to the dialysis machine and his face turned yellow.’
The ordeal has been ‘traumatising’ for the family, although Jaydon is doing ‘much better now than what he was a couple of weeks ago’.
Jaydon’s grandparents live with him at their home in Anglesey with his mother Tiffany.
Jaydon faces a series of visits to hospital over the coming weeks before he is taken to Alder Hey again for another check-up
The boy’s grandmother, Christine, said she was ‘apprehensive’ over leaving him in the garden again.
‘I clean the patio every day, but it’s difficult because the seagulls are nesting nearby and it’s a constant mess to clean up,’ she said.
‘Poor Jaydon is on all sorts of medications now, we just hope that he’s not suffered any permanent issues. He’s still not himself, he’s still quite grey, but he’s getting there slowly.
‘Young children are constantly putting things in their mouth and we hope that this ordeal can serve as reminder for parents and guardians to make sure that their children are playing in a safe environment, particularly when they’re outside.’
Jaydon faces a series of visits to hospital over the coming weeks before he is taken to Alder Hey again for another check-up.