My child’s arms and legs were black .. he was dying before my very eyes
Little Jakub lost fingers and toes to sepsis
A MUM is desperate to help her young son walk “pain free” after he lost his fingers and toes when he developed sepsis.
Jakub Kolek, of Edinburgh, was rushed to hospital with a serious infection at the age of 18 months.
His condition quickly worsened when sepsis set in and doctors feared the youngster would not survive.
Jakub defied the odds to pull through but the sepsis caused the tissue in his hands and feet to die.
He lost multiple fingers and all of his toes and, now aged six, he is still in pain every time he walks. His mum Karina, 32, has spoken of the family’s ordeal as she attempts to raise cash for a potentially life-changing treatment that could give Jakub “a chance to be normal”.
She said: “I remember those moments when Jakub was first ill so clearly.
“I was scared by the way my son looked. His arms and legs were black.
“I was mad with despair, fear, pain, helplessness – it is impossible to describe. My child was dying before my eyes.
“The doctors said they did not know if he would make it. At one point, only his heart was still beating. So I prayed.
“Fortunately, God gave my son one more life and Jakub had enough strength to survive.”
Jakub had to have digits amputated after due to necrotising fascitis, a rare bacterial infection that affects the tissue beneath the skin.
Karina added: “Some of his fingers could not be saved but his feet suffered the most. That is where the greatest tissue loss is.”
Jakub has undergone reconstructive surgery to help repair his feet and allow him to bear weight. But during the treatment, medics discovered damaged growth cartilages which will require further operations to help him to walk without pain.
Karina, a single mum of two, has launched a fundraiser to help pay for £60,000 treatment from a specialist team in Poland. She said: “I am fighting for my son because I believe this is the only chance he will have to function like other children.
“If Jakub does not get this surgery soon, it may result in more damage to the skin.
“Not only will that cause more pain but in the worst case may lead to osteomyelitis, a type of swelling in the bone, which could make him seriously ill again.”
Karina added: “I’m a mother with two children, alone, and I cannot cope on my own.
“I ask for this help so my son can live without pain, without a wheelchair and walk normally like other children in future.”