Mother donates her kidney after sons get E.coli on a lockdown walk in the country
A family has described how their lives were turned upside down when a lockdown walk in the Highlands left their children with life-threatening E.coli and one of them needing a kidney transplant.
Louise and Anthony Mcfaulds were enjoying being able to spend more time with Leo, eight, and Samuel, four, with the boys climbing trees and gates and playing on haystacks in the countryside.
Mr Mcfaulds, 46, was furloughed from his job as a sales engineer and the family was together in Elgin, Moray, where they moved when Mrs Mcfaulds, 40, got a job as a primary school teacher.
But in May 2020 both their children became seriously ill. What the family thought was a stomach bug turned out to be E.coli, which caused Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome, leading to anaemia and kidney failure.
They feared they would lose both their sons, who were transferred for specialist care in the Royal Hospital for Children and began suffering organ failure.
Mrs Mcfaulds donated a kidney to Leo in February after it became clear dialysis, which had helped Samuel recover, was not working.
Nearly a year after the horrific spiral began they have permanently moved down to Cumbernauld, South Lanarkshire, as Leo will need ongoing renal treatment.
He went back to school on Tuesday, part-time.
Mr Mcfaulds said it felt as though ten years of events rolled into one as he warned parents to be aware of the bug which can be prevalent at petting zoos and farms.
He said: "We had a picture postcard lifestyle and it just changed in a moment. What we thought was just a tummy bug ravaged them.
"We were really enjoying the first lockdown. I was furloughed for a month or two and the boys were off school. The pressures weren't there.
"The weather was great and we were out each day cycling and having picnics, then it turned upside down around May 25.
"We think the boys must have picked up the bug from an infected animal or farm gate, or from touching their shoes.
"We narrowed it down to three days but we are not sure which one - catching tadpoles in a pond, I took the boys for a cycle and they played on hay bales, and there was a long walk there they were climbing gates and trees.
"All these innocent childhood activities - we will never truly know, which is troubling, as a parent you want to protect your kids."
Samuel became ill first with Leo's symptoms developing about three days later, but after Mrs Mcfaulds took their youngest to Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin, she called her husband to say he needed to bring their other child immediately.
Public Health Scotland questioned the family on how they stored food and were concerned about a potential wider outbreak. But officials believe it came from the countryside.
Mr Mcfaulds said: "The medics were incredible, they saved both our boys' lives. There is no cure.”