Baby Lucas is winning his fight
A COUPLE are getting ready to welcome home their baby son who has defied doctors' predictions that he would not survive a bowel problem.
Proud parents Ashley Nye and Holly Johns are hoping to finally bring home seven-month old Lucas-Riley in the autumn.
Surgeons at Leicester Royal Infirmary operated on Lucas just hours after his birth when it was discovered that part of his small intestine had died and said he would need a transplant.
Holly and Ashley were then given the hard decision of either keeping him in hospital and waiting 18 months for a transplant - or bringing him home to die.
But brave Lucas has defied those predictions with his progress and may not need the transplant after the length of his bowel has nearly tripled thanks to an operation in February.
The youngster had just 20cm of intestine - a healthy intestine would 200cm long - but surgeons sliced this from end to end to make two separate pieces of intestine. He how has 58cm of intestine.
Battling Lucas will be having a further operation at the beginning of August to remove a colostomy bag and doctors hope that he will be able to come home in the autumn.
His dad Ashley, 20, of West Street Gardens, Stamford, said: "If we had gone the other way and brought him home, we would have been devastated. We are over the moon that we had made the right decision. It shows what the NHS and people at Leicester can do.
"We were in the meetings with the surgeons and they talked about how far he has come and that he could have died. It brought a tear to my eye for someone to say that he has done really well. It is such a huge achievement.
"Lucas is a big fighter. I don't think there is any secret to his progress, he wanted to do it and he did it."
The youngster is now tucking into solid food and his favourite so far appears to be beef stew and potatoes baby food. He is still hooked up to machines which give him shots of vitamins and fats.
The family has also been able to enjoy day trips out of hospital and so far have visited Twycross Zoo and Skegness.
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Weather for Stamford
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
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