FROM A WHEELCHAIR TO A SKATEBOARD!
TAYLOR THE SKATER WON’T LET MISSING LIMBS STOP HIM FROM LIVING LARGE
Looking at his happy bright eyes and big beaming smile, you would never know that little Taylor Lewis has had an unimaginably rough start to life.
The charismatic 4-year-old, from Nottingham, UK, was struck down by a deadly form of meningitis called meningococcal septicaemia when he was just 8 months old in April 2015.
Although he survived the disease, Taylor ended up losing both of his legs and all his fingers as a result – and has since undergone over 76 operations to help him eventually use prosthetics.
After initially learning to walk on his prosthetics mere weeks after leaving hospital, Taylor began to encounter problems at the beginning of 2019, as the limbs became painful due to the need for more operations as he continues to grow. But not wanting to stay in a wheelchair, the inspirational tot chose to learn to skateboard, using it to scoot around both at home and outside.
Mum Terri Lewsley, 26, couldn’t be prouder of Taylor – who has just started at a mainstream school – and the way he’s defied all the odds.
“He can get some speed on the skateboard, even using it in the kitchen!” she laughs.
“It’s not a full-sized one, but one that’s perfect for him.
“He’ll lie down on his tummy and use his hands to navigate his way round. He’s gone outside on it, and while he has taken a tumble on it before, he loves it and it gets him moving.
“It gives him some of his independence back, which is really important to him – he underwent operations on his hands recently so he can now feed himself, get dressed and brush his teeth. Taylor is determined to not let anything hold him back, so for him, it seems the more activities he can do – the more dangerous they are – the better.”
In 2015 a distraught Terri felt helpless when doctors gave 8-month-old Taylor just hours to live – but the courageous boy continued to fight and came out of a coma after 17 days.
Taylor needed his left leg, all his fingers, thumbs and toes removed after they turned black – and later had to lose his remaining leg.
But despite all of this, Taylor remains relentlessly determined to achieve his independence and mobility. He always wants to be outdoors and his mum loves to watch him explore.
“It was the worst day of my life when doctors prepared us to say our goodbyes, his legs were black, and he was hooked up to every machine possible,” Terri explains.
“I just prayed he would pull through, and after surgeons amputated his legs, toes, and the fingers on both hands, he started to improve and smile again. He was given his prosthetics four weeks after being discharged in 2015, and a few weeks later he was able to stand and take those first few steps after gaining his balance.
“I was so happy I could have cried when he stood up for the first time.
“Taylor is the biggest fighter I have ever known. He is amazing.
“He has never been one to ask for help or complain, but the pain was clearly getting to him as he has spent the past 10 months in a wheelchair.”
Yet now he skateboards, he loves to go from room to room, preferably as fast as he can, and will knock into you if he can.
“He is still the same cheeky kid he always was.”
“TAYLOR IS THE BIGGEST FIGHTER I’VE EVER KNOWN. HE IS AMAZING”
Taylor first fell ill on April 20, 2015, when he had been put to bed as normal – but Terri noticed he had a temperature.
However, after arriving at the hospital, Taylor seemed to ‘perk up’ and they were sent home.
But her relief was short lived as her son’s condition quickly went downhill – which Terri said was just the beginning of their nightmare.
“Once we got back home, he got much worse and wouldn’t eat or drink. When back in hospital his limbs started to turn black as his whole body began shutting down. It was terrifying,” Terri says.
“It was the biggest relief of my life when he started to improve, even though it had left him with life-changing damage to his legs and hands.
“I knew he would need his left leg amputated along with his toes on his right foot and fingers but all I cared about was him surviving.
“He was always such a happy, smiling baby before he was diagnosed and that hasn’t changed.”
Terri says she couldn’t be prouder of her son and looks forward to a bright future.
“Taylor has amazed doctors with his fighting spirit and although he’ll need operations for most of his life, I know he’ll manage just fine” she says.
“I’m just so proud of him. At the minute he’s happy on his skateboard but I’m hoping that in the future he’s be fitted with full length prosthetics and blades that will enable him to be active as he wants when he gets older.”