‘As if they aren’t dealing with enough, now they have nowhere to call home’
Freddie, 2, remains in Great Ormund Street Hospital receiving life-saving treatment(Image: Sian Waite)
A family was preparing for their seriously ill son to have surgery when they were told a fire had engulfed their home. The youngster was scheduled for surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London after inhaling a piece of plastic months earlier.
In Summer 2024, parents Sian, 29 and Jason Waite, 37, from Newbridge, took their family of six on a summer holiday abroad. While on the holiday, toddler Freddie accidentally inhaled a tiny piece of plastic from a toy bullet.
After arriving back home in Wales, the following months consisted of Freddie complaining of pain in his chest, and constant hospital appointments resulted in him being diagnosed with chest infections, asthma, and polyps and being prescribed inhalers, antibiotics and steroids. But his symptoms persisted, and started getting worse.
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It got so bad, when Sian was attending a GP appointment for herself, the doctor assessing her said they could “hear Freddie’s chest from here” and so urged her to call an ambulance.
“After Sian demanded X rays, it showed a small plastic suction cup, or the end of a toy bullet, in his lung. For 11 months he had a foreign object in his lung,” said Sian’s friend and neighbour Natalie Shepherd.
Scan shows the plastic object in Freddie’s lung(Image: Sian Waite)
“After being admitted to hospital via ambulance this last time, they found that he has a collapsed lung. They were transferred to the Heath Hospital where an attempt was made to remove it from his lung, but this was unsuccessful.
“They were transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital where they were able to remove the object. Though removing it caused a tear in his oesophagus and left a hole in his lung.”
Freddie, his parents and grandparents have been in Great Ormond Street for around four weeks before getting a date for the surgery to repair the hole in his lung. But three days before Freddie was due in theatre, Sian received a phone call to say that her house was up in flames.
SWFRS were called to their home on September 20(Image: Natalie Shepherd)
On September 20, the fire service were called to their home in Pantside, as a fire had broken out in the utility room. The house was engulfed in smoke and the damage is so severe, they were told they would have to be rehoused.
“As if they aren’t dealing with enough, now they have nowhere to call home. The house is reparable, luckily, but everything inside there is damaged. They have no furniture, they have nothing to come back to when Freddie is better,” said Natalie.
Their home was engulfed in flames after a fire started in the utility room(Image: Sian Waite)
On September 23, Freddie underwent another intrusive surgery, which was successful, and he is expected to make a full recovery.
“Freddie will be in hospital in London for another 4-6 weeks, doctors expect, but he is such a fighter. It amazes me, his resilience. He is already off his ventilator,” Natalie added.
“Freddie’s family are still trying to remain positive despite everything they are going through. Even though everything material that they have is gone, which is extremely worrying I am sure.”
Friend Natalie has set up a GoFundMe for the family, in the hope of raising £2,800 to push them through this “unimaginably hard” time.
“Anything you could donate would greatly be appreciated and maybe take a little stress off them as a family. We have had an anonymous donation of £2,000 already, which is just unbelievable honestly. It was anonymous too, so we can’t even thank them for their generosity, whoever it was.”
You can click here to donate.
