‘We thought we were bringing him home from Spain to die’
Hugo Orrell was on holiday with his family last summer when he fell ill
IT was the phone call every parent fears. Michael Orrell was at home in Middleton when his ex-partner called to tell him their son Hugo was seriously ill in a Spanish hospital.
Hugo, then four, had begun having seizures while staying with family in Torrevieja in south east Spain in July last year.
He was taken to a local medial centre, but after tests were carried out, arrangements were made for him to be transferred to a specialist children’s unit at a hospital in Alicante.
But, his family say, during the journey something went catastrophically wrong.
Hugo was meant to be sedated and ventilated, but his family say there was a problem with the equipment and his brain was starved of oxygen.
He went into cardiac arrest and it took medics 20 minutes to revive him.
In the process he suffered massive brain damage
Michael said: “He was a fit and healthy four-yearold.
“He’d never had anything like this before. It came completely out of the blue.
“When I got on the plane to Spain I didn’t know if he would be alive when I landed.”
Michael, 34, says his son spent the next 10 days in intensive care having ‘constant seizures’.
And then came a bombshell from the doctors.
They told Hugo’s parents even if he came around he would have ‘no quality of life’ and advised them to agree to switching his life support machine off
But they refused and insisted Hugo was taken back to the UK.
He was flown home on a private jet and taken straight to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, where he spent the next eight months having intensive treatment and rehabilitation.
And his recovery has been remarkable.
Hugo will probably need to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life and will always require help and assistance with everyday tasks.
But, 12 months later, Hugo, now five, is learning to talk and is about to start school in September.
Michael, a freelance TV propman, said: “It’s a miracle really.
“He has just come on massively.
“We thought we were bringing him home to die.
“It’s been horrendous, but how Hugo is now, compared to what they told us in Spain, it’s unbelievable.
“It’s amazing what he has been through. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Last Saturday Michael’s best mate Leon Wint tackled the Ironman in Bolton, a gruelling challenge that involved completing a marathon, a 112 mile bike ride and a five mile swim, to raise money for the specialist equipment Hugo will need to help him get around at home.
And now Michael, who shares joint custody of Hugo and his sister Penelope, seven, with their mum, says he can finally start looking forward to a future together with his family.
He said: “Hugo still has his personality, even though he can’t physically do what he used to be able to. “He’s still Hugo, my son. “He’s still the funny little boy with a great sense of humour that he always was.
“We’re lucky in some ways. A lot of families are a lot worse off than us.
“At the time I would have given anything just to have one more minute with him - now we’re making plans for the future.” ●●
GO to https://www. justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/leonsironman-for-hugo?utm_ term=kpjy5k6wd to donate to Hugo’s fundraising page.
. .
PUPILS from Holy Family RC Primary School are making a difference in their local community, thanks to the Premier League Primary Stars programme delivered by Rochdale AFC Community Trust.
The ‘Change the World Team’, named by the children from the school, worked with Graham Hicks, Primary Stars Coordinator, to deliver a social action project.
The pupils held discussions and surveys before deciding on the mission to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to benefit their local community.
This social action project was developed using #iwill principles of great social action, ensuring the project was challenging, youth-led, socially impactful, progressive, embedded and reflective.
Graham Hicks, who led the Primary Stars programme, said: “The pupils were rally passionate about the local community and came up with many ideas of how they could make an impact.
“It was great to see the children really engaged. They identified the problem, what could be done and then put a plan into action and the results were fantastic.
“Not only did we make an immediate difference to Balderstone Park, but the children realised that they can play a huge part in their local community.
“The next project is an art project using bottle tops, highlighting the need to take bottle tops off before recycling, and they will also be switching to reusable water bottles in school to further cut down on disposable plastic.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how the group further develop their ideas”
Rochdale AFC Community Trust are funded to deliver the project locally and are looking for schools who would like to get involved in the programme, which is offered totally free to school in Rochdale. For more information please get in touch with Graham. Hicks@rochdaleafc.co.uk or schools can check out our 2021/22 schools brochure here: https:// rochdaleafccommunity. org/docs/rafc-schoolsoffer.pdf