Baby three hours from death

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Baby three hours from death

devon.editorial@...

12 May 2005

http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/exmouthjournal/news/story.aspx?

brand=EXJOnline & category=news & tBrand=devon24 & tCategory=newsexj & itemid

=DEED11%20May%202005%2017%3A21%3A17%3A383

Zara Crowson and partner Mark Blake with eight-year-old Liam-

and seven-week-old baby Ethan. Ref

AN EXMOUTH mother has pleaded with EDDC to find emergency

accommodation for her family after her baby son almost died

following a viral infection she says was caused by mould in her

family's flat.

Zara Crowson, 30, issued the SOS after seven-week-old Ethan Blake

was twice rushed to intensive care with pneumonia. His right lung

also collapsed.

Ethan returned from his second stint in hospital on Monday, but

cannot return to the family's privately-rented South Street home for

fear of contracting the life-threatening virus for a third time.

Zara shares her two-bedroom flat with partner Mark Blake, 36, and

son Liam-, eight.

She said: " We are frantic with worry. There is no way we would risk

bringing him back here. He is living up at my mum's in Broadpark

Road and we go up to visit him. We just want to start living as a

family again. "

Ethan was born on March 19 at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

Mother and baby returned home two days later.

" We were back for two days when Ethan picked up a chest infection.

Soon his nose and sinuses were so blocked he couldn't feed.

" On March 31 he twice stopped breathing. We rushed him to Exmouth

Hospital and he stopped breathing with the doctor. His right lung

had collapsed from the weight of the mucus.

" He was taken by ambulance to Exeter and then onto Bristol Royal

Children's Hospital. The doctors told us he was three hours from

dying. "

Ethan was put on a ventilator at the hospital's intensive care unit

and fell into a drug-induced coma.

" The first few days were awful and we nearly lost him. It was

traumatic. He was under 24-hour supervision and we stayed there with

him. We couldn't be by his side, but had a phone line direct to the

nurse in his room.

" It was a desperate time and we felt so helpless as his life hung in

the balance. "

Ethan stayed in Bristol until April 6, when he was transferred to

the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. He returned home five days

later.

" We lived in the sitting room because the bedroom was too damp.

Within three days he started snivelling again and his breathing

started to deteriorate.

" On April 30 he was rushed to hospital again. This time it wasn't as

bad, because we had kept a close eye on him, but he remained in

hospital for 10 days. "

The couple's first-floor flat is next to a series of derelict

buildings. It appears to show mould and damp on the walls. Mr Blake

repainted them in an attempt to make it suitable for Ethan to live

in, but the mould quickly returned.

Mr Blake said: " The doctors cannot name the virus which caused

Ethan's illness, but we feel it is caused by the damp conditions in

the flat.

" When the environmental health inspector came round he told us not

to put our furniture against the walls, but how can you live like

that? "

Miss Crowson said that in April 2004 EDDC instructed her to withhold

her housing benefit from her landlord until repairs had been carried

out to stop the mould and damp. She says she is still waiting for

this to happen.

The flat falls within a wider area which might be redeveloped.

Flat landlord Jimmy Pratt refused to comment.

Miss Crowson said she has been on the waiting list for a council

house for nine years.

She said: " Mark and I are both Exmouth born and bred. According to

the council, Liam only counts as half a person until he is 10 years

old and Ethan is not counted at all until his first birthday,

because they reckon he can live in the same room as us.

" We have sent the council letters from doctors stating that Ethan

suffered a life-threatening illness caused by his living conditions,

but nothing ever happens. We feel as if we are banging our heads

against a brick wall. "

The couple are currently receiving Job Seekers Allowance.

Mr Blake said: " I want to provide for my family and am trying to

find work, but right now there is no way we could afford to pay out

money for deposits and references, so unless the council helps us we

are stuck. "

Community nurse Ros Houldin wrote to EDDC on April 11 asking it to

urgently find accommodation for Zara and her family, and expressing

her concern about Ethan returning to " a very damp and mouldy flat in

his vulnerable condition " . She is still waiting for a reply.

" We just want somewhere safe and clean where we can be a family

again. It's been very tough on Liam, seeing his brother taken

away, " said Mr Blake.

EDDC spokesman Nick said: " We are aware of this family's

circumstances and are currently awaiting the findings of an

environmental health survey of their existing home. As soon as we

receive this, we will re-assess the social and medical factors and

make a decision about their eligibility for re-housing.