‘WOOL SAVED MY SON’S LIFE!’
How a terrifying near-tragedy inspired Lucy’s successful family business
Iggy Frost was a baby the first time he suffered a terrifying seizure, lying catatonic in his mother’s arms as his eyes rolled back in his head. While his mum Lucy helplessly tried to rouse her son and call his name, a non-responsive Iggy foamed at the mouth.
The memory is still one of the scariest moments for the Papakura woman, whose firstborn was diagnosed as having febrile convulsions, a condition that causes seizures when a child becomes feverish and overheats.
Although traumatic, the experience is also the reason the entrepreneur and her husband Fran, 42, created a children’s merino clothing brand eight years ago, to help other young kids like Iggy, now 12, with health concerns.
“I remember picking Iggy up from his in-home caregiver, who said he hadn’t been himself,” recalls Lucy, 45, who is also mum to daughter Frankie. “I chatted to him in the car on the way home and kept checking him in the rear-vision mirror. I thought it was weird because his cheeks were red and then his eyes suddenly started to roll back.”
After pulling into the driveway at home, Lucy raced her baby inside while he convulsed, before ringing an ambulance. She was instructed not to put Iggy in a cool bath in case he hit his head on a hard surface because he was shaking. Instead, the frightened mum used cool flannels to get his temperature down before paramedics arrived.
“I’d never seen anything like it in my life and he was so young,” says Lucy. “I was pregnant at the time too and it was the scariest thing because he was completely unresponsive. I thought he was dying.”
At Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital, Iggy was monitored and given medication to cool him down, but he became unresponsive. He slept for days after the episode and then a rash popped up.
“It looked like chickenpox, and he was quite spacey and lethargic for a couple of days,” says Lucy. “It was like his body shut down and did a reset. We definitely became more vigilant with taking temperatures after that – before, we’d only done the hand-on-head thing to check.”
Although febrile convulsions are relatively common, Lucy knew nothing about the condition when she became a first-time mother and says it wasn’t covered in any of her antenatal classes.
“They happen when babies have a virus between about nine and 18 months, before they can start talking and tell you what’s wrong with them,” she explains. “Their body temperature spikes to try to fight the illness and they start convulsing.”
After researching how to monitor Iggy’s temperature and prevent future episodes, Lucy learnt about the benefits of children wearing merino wool, which regulates body heat during winter’s ills and chills, and also keeps them cool in summer.
“I couldn’t find a lot of merino clothing out there for Iggy’s age, so I figured I’d start making some myself,” says Lucy. “I got myself a sewing machine and went to a shop in O- tara that sold leftover merino fabric from a mill. I started making him little pants and tops, and it became his wardrobe.”
Nine months after his first seizure, Iggy suffered another, but this time, his parents knew the signs and what to do. They lay the tot on a bed, used cool flannels and towels, and kept him calm while they rang Healthline on 0800 611 116.
Lucy was told he didn’t need to go to hospital but to visit their GP the next day, when the tot was given medication for a viral infection. Fortunately, that was the last time Iggy, now a basketball-mad teen,
‘It looked like chickenpox and he was quite spacey’
suffered a convulsion.
In 2011, while running a marketing company that took New Zealand brands to the US, Lucy and Fran realised that while they had a range of Kiwi-made baby items to take to a trade show in Kentucky, they didn’t have any merino products, which sparked an idea.
“We created our brand Little Flock of Horrors to fit that space at the trade show and that’s where it all started,” explains Lucy. “It took a couple of years of going back over to America before we landed a spot for our products in Barneys New York.”
In 2016, the products were launched here and Little Flock of Horrors is now a successful Papakura-based business.
“Up until Iggy and Frankie outgrew the clothes, they were the main models for the photoshoots,” smiles Lucy. “Now they help me with design feedback, and Frankie helps me pack orders and write thank-you notes.”
Part of running the family brand is educating new and expectant parents about the health benefits of babies wearing merino, which often comes back to the story of their own terrifying experience.
“Merino wool was the best fabric Iggy could’ve been wearing,” enthuses Lucy.
“It literally helped save our son’s life.”