I cared for himnews 24 hours a day. Now life is empty
A HEARTBROKEN mum has paid tribute to her “beautiful” baby boy following his death at the age of two.
Lucy Shields said her son Roman was her “everything” and she has been “totally lost” since he passed away after a two-year battle with sepsis, despite showing incredible strength throughout his short life by fighting off infections and responding well to treatment.
After he developed a water infection Lucy believes that his tiny body no longer had the strength to fight and he died at his home in Gateshead with Lucy by his side on April 13.
Lucy said: “He had so much strength but I think his little body just gave up. I think he thought, ‘I’ve given you two and a half years, Mam. Now it’s your time.’”
The 36-year-old added: “Now my life is empty and I have to go on living each day without him. I’m totally lost without him. It breaks my heart and I just miss him so much. He wasn’t just my son, he was my best friend, my sidekick, my everything.”
Roman was diagnosed with sepsis when he was three weeks old after Lucy and dad Richard took him to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Gateshead, with what she believed was colic. But doctors rushed him to intensive care after diagnosing sepsis and he remained on life support for three weeks.
The life-threatening infection caused Roman brain damage and he was left unable to walk or feed himself, which
required him to be fed through a tube. He was diagnosed with epilepsy, as well as a number of other medical conditions and was regularly receiving treatment at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.
Lucy said a ‘do not resuscitate’ order was put in place late last year and, despite being critically ill, Roman still managed to spend his final Christmas at home with his family. The mum-ofthree previously told The Chronicle: “I don’t know where Roman gets the strength from; he’s just so bubbly. He tries to babble on and he’s such a happy baby. But when he’s poorly he gets sick very quickly.”
Today Lucy told of how she never expected to lose her son when she did. Lucy said: “It was so awful because I just wasn’t expecting it to happen that day; you could have knocked me down with a feather. Every day was like living on eggshells because you just didn’t know what was going to happen from one day to the next.”
She added: “It’s so hard because I realise he’s never coming back. I looked after him 24 hours a day seven days a week and now I don’t know what to do any more and I struggle to get out of bed. I’m used to doing his catheter and his meds for him and now my house is just empty.”
Lucy explained that Roman had “the best” send-off she could have asked for at Saltwell Cemetery on April 26. She said: “I gave him a horse and carriage and the flowers were amazing. Nurses from the hospital were there to show their respects because he was special to them as well.”