"We thought it was time to say goodbye": Disabled Doncaster boy recovering after life saved

Seven year-old Daniel Bostock, who can’t walk, talk or eat after suffering brain damage at birth, has already undergone in a number of operations and hospital stays during his short life, including life-saving surgery earlier this year.

Last week, the youngster, who comes from Scawthorpe, was rushed to hospital with his parents Warren Bostock, 43, and Jodie Smith, 41 preparing to say their goodbyes.

The family, which runs a blog, Team Daniel, charting their son’s progress, said: “This time last week Daniel was on a life support machine and on his way to Leeds General Infirmary fighting sepsis and not knowing if he would even survive the journey.

“Today he left hospital and came home as though nothing has happened. I'm massively emotional writing this status as we genuinely thought it was time to say goodbye.

“The strength he's shown this week is just something else.

"In March he had an empyema and emergency surgery, this massively hit him and he's literally just before this started to show signs of the Daniel we know and then this happened.

“We can't thank the various teams enough for saving his life and also caring for us at the same time. Also thank you for everyone who has been there for us with messages of support or offers of help.

“He's still not 100% and needs ongoing treatment but he came home and that's all that matters. We are used to being in and out of hospital with him but these two episodes have been something else.

"We are exhausted and feel like we've been on the biggest emotional roller coaster once again.”

Daniel was placed on a ventilator after being rushed to Doncaster Royal Infirmary after his oxygen levels dropped dangerously low.

Dad Warren said: “From this point everything happened so quickly and the doctors told us that he was very, very poorly and we should expect the worse, this included a discussion about our wishes if his heart stopped."

A decision was made to put Daniel into an induced coma to allow his body to rest as his heart rate had been around 180 bpm for a considerable amount of time and he was becoming exhausted.

"The other issue was that his blood pressure was extremely low, the team told us that there is a risk that when they start to put him to sleep that he would suffer a cardiac arrest. He was transported quickly to Leeds General Infirmary who did an outstanding job of looking after him.

“I can't even explain how the last few days have felt, they have broken us, we thought this was our time to say goodbye. Those who follow Dan's journey will know we are only just getting over another hospital stay where again he was very poorly and required emergency surgery. We just need to keep our strength up and get him through this.”

Daniel’s heart stopped during his birth, an emergency C-section, undergoing CPR for 25 minutes.

The incident left him with Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy which effects all four limbs, effectively having no control over his body. He also suffers with epilepsy and frequently has seizures.

Doctors hooked a peg into his stomach in order for them to feed him blended food to him over the years. They also have to use a suction tube to suck the secretion out of his mouth – which is classed as an unsafe airway as he struggles with swallowing.

Daniel has had multiple operations over the years due to the complications from birth. He also suffers with epilepsy.

Warren said: “He can’t talk but he’s such an excitable little boy. Daniel is well loved. He enjoys school, loves painting, it gets him really excited. People adore him. He’s such a strong boy.

“I could never go through what he’s gone through. He’s just a very loving boy, he loves to be loved, he loves cuddles and kisses. Even though he can’t talk to us, we know him inside and out. We can be his eyes and ears. We know what he likes and doesn’t like, or when he’s just fed up and being a typical seven-year old. Even though he can’t talk back to us, we still talk to him.”

The family has a GoFundMe page which you can donate to HERE