Kentish Express Ashford & District
Mum performs CPR to save her poorly son’s life
Exclusive
The mum of a seriously ill boy has described the heart-rending moment she had to perform CPR to save his life.
Paramedics were called to Newenden Close in Stanhope just five days before Christmas after nineyear-old Cody Steward suffered problems with his lungs.
He was rushed to hospital and has since remained in intensive care, missing the festive period and his ninth birthday with his brothers and sister because he was so poorly.
His mum Leanne has had to stay with him in London to look after him. She said: “Cody has been fighting for his whole life. My children saw me doing the CPR on the day, and then the paramedics came and worked on him.
“He has muscular dystrophy, which has caused problems for his lungs, so he has suffered with emphysema and bronchitis, he has only been home for about four days since October, and then he had a mucus block.”
Mrs Steward, 32, a mum of five, said Cody was first diag- nosed when he was a month old, and she was told he probably wouldn’t survive beyond his first birthday.
When he was a toddler he started to suffer problems with his lungs, which has resulted in regular trips to the Brompton Hospital in London.
She said: “We are a close, tightknit and united family and we have had to be to deal with this. Our children are aware that Cody is poorly.
“When he is in hospital it livens up Cody’s spirits to see his family on Face Time.
“It has been hard on us, but it has made us closer.”
The condition is hereditary in Cody’s genes, but as far as Mrs Steward is aware, he is the first in the family to be affected.
It means that both she and her husband Fred, 32, have to spend long periods of time with Cody in hospital where he is looked after while the other stays with their other children at home.
Now the family are hosting a special evening to raise money and awareness for the Brompton Hospital, which looks after babies and children with lifethreatening heart and lung conditions.