We love our little miracle
Dec 27 2008 by Jon Tunney, The Journal
A BABY whose life was saved by Viagra has started walking. Lewis Goodfellow was born 16 weeks prematurely weighing 1lb 8oz at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
The tot’s body was not working properly and he was struggling to carry oxygen around his system. So medics used impotency drug Viagra to open up the small blood vessels in his lungs.
Heart and eye surgery followed and, in October 2006, he had an operation on his stomach in a bid to stop constant vomiting.
Now aged two, Lewis seems just like any other toddler his age. And he has started eating solid foods for the first time. From her home in Meadow Drive, Seaton Burn, North Tyneside, mum Jade said she feared she may never see her beloved son take steps of his own.
She said: “Lewis is doing well and he has now started to walk. It’s really nice to see him toddle around as there was a time when I didn’t think that would be possible after all he has been through.”
Jade said her son had always enjoyed life despite all his medical difficulties.
She said: “He has had a difficult start to life for such a young age, but he is very happy and content and has quite a cheeky character. I’ve never let any of Lewis’s medical problems get in the way of us doing stuff and enjoying life.”
Lewis spent his first five months – and his first Christmas – in hospital.
At night he is tube-fed high-calorie milk straight into his stomach, but he is now also eating solid foods.
But medics once warned Lewis’s family he might never make it home from the hospital.
Jade said: “He really is a miracle baby and I never gave up hope that he would pull through.
“At one point we were told we might have to make a decision about stopping treatment because he was so poorly and we even started to plan his funeral, but everyone prayed so much for him and he was a fighter and survived.”
Lewis became one of the first babies at the RVI’s special care baby unit to be treated with Viagra.
He is very happy and content and has quite a cheeky character
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