Aidan’s on the ball again
Lewis gets wee brother back on his feet with football after deadly brain bug left him fighting for life
FOOTBALL-daft toddler Aidan Kane is able to walk again after recovering from a deadly brain condition – thanks to the efforts of his doting big brother.
Three years ago, Aidan was fighting for his life. His mum, Jenny, had thought he was suffering from a cold but days later, he was so ill she feared he was “slipping to the other side”. He lost 80 per cent of the sight in his right eye and needed physiotherapy and a harness to sit up. But thanks to brother Lewis, now 10, who brought a football into hospital for him to kick, Aidan is walking again. After his remarkable recovery, the boys’ grandad David O’Donnell plans to raise money for charity by visiting all 42 professional football clubs in Scotland in a 1000-mile cycle. The 69-yearold will be joined by Jenny for the first three days of the 25-day journey. He hopes to raise at least £3000, to be split between Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity and the Encephalitis Society. David said: “I just want to try and raise as much as I can for the charities.” Describing the period when Aidan took ill, Jenny, 37, from Alexandria, near Dumbarton, said: “It was Lewis who got Aidan walking again. He brought in a hand-size football and had him standing up and trying to get him to kick the ball.
“Lewis was really good with him. He was so encouraging and still is.”
The family’s ordeal began just before Aidan’s second birthday, when he was struck down with flu-like symptoms.
When his condition worsened, he was rushed by ambulance to Glasgow Children’s Hospital.
Jenny, an electronic security officer, said: “I knew something was wrong.
“I had cut up some banana and put it on a plate and he just started padding down on the plate, like he couldn’t see it.”
Doctors confirmed Aidan had encephalitis, a rare and potentially deadly swelling of the brain.
Jenny added: “It really looked like he was slipping to the other side.”
But Aidan was able to recover and, against all odds, he will start primary one this year – a day Jenny once feared she might never see.
She said: “We are very proud of him and the hospital has been absolutely amazing.”