Flu left our Lukas, 8, in wheelchair
Dad tells of life-changing years when boy was sick
AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD boy was left in a wheelchair after getting flu – as the virus caused him to have a heart attack and a stroke.
Lukas Thomson caught the bug in 2017 and now needs physiotherapy to help him walk.
The boy had been jabbed against the virus in 2016 and was fit and healthy when he got sick.
His mum, paediatric nurse Michelle Tostevin, 34, and her husband Martin Thomson, 46, said they had no idea how debilitating the virus could be.
The family, from Ednam in the Borders, now have to be ultracautious as Lukas can’t have a Covid jab due to the risk of inflammation of the heart.
When he became severely ill, he suffered a heart attack – causing him to be put on an ECMO machine to let his heart recover.
But while he was receiving CPR for his heart attack, he had a stroke which damaged the right-hand side of his brain.
He spent four months in a rehab ward at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.
Dad Martin, who works as an accountant, has urged others to get vaccinated for flu to avoid potentially devastating illness.
He said: “We weren’t aware of the complications and difficulties it can cause until this happened.
“You hear of people dying from it, but not so much young people. We would encourage families to take the flu vaccine.
“Lukas had a vaccine in 2016 but it only protects against certain strains and he caught another that wasn’t covered.
“Some people would say, ‘What’s the point in having the vaccine if it only covers some strains?’ But it clearly lessens your chances of complications if you contract flu.”
Martin raised £30,000 for private physiotherapy in California to help get Lukas moving independently.
The Arsenal Scotland Supporters Club organised a fundraising event and Lukas was also invited to switch on Ednam’s Christmas lights.
Martin added: “It is going to be a long road ahead for him and us all. We never thought this was something we’d ever need to go through but you get on with it. It has changed all our lives.”
To donate to Lukas’s fund, go to justgiving. com/campaign/ teamlukas