Jack's Journey

Hello wonderful people,

This page is for little Jack, who is just 14 months old. About a week ago, Jack became suddenly very unwell with a high fever, vomiting, extreme lethargy and difficulty waking. His parents, Sammy and Joel realized that something was very wrong and took him to the emergency department. It was then confirmed that he was septic and it quickly became critical. Testing and imaging was done which indicated that Jack had pneumococcal bacterial meningitis, which kills roughly 1 in 10 infected people.

Jack is now thankfully stable and improving, but at this stage will spend a minimum of 14 days in hospital receiving treatment. The biggest concern now is his hearing. Since becoming sick, Jack has stopped responding normally to sound and has now essentially failed four hearing tests, with no response even to very loud sounds. He is now waiting for an urgent ABR brain-response hearing test to determine the extent of his hearing loss. If severe or profound permanent loss is confirmed, cochlear implants may be the next step.

Sammy and Joel are currently a one-income family in the midst of global rising costs of living, facing an extended hospital stay and an unknown amount of follow-up and rehabilitation for Jack. If you are in a position to give, any amount is helpful. This page will also be used to share updates on Jack’s progress, taking some pressure off Sammy and Joel having to update everyone individually while they focus on him and their wee family.