Only 12 hours after being admitted to hospital our son died (From Echo)

Only 12 hours after being admitted to hospital our son died

9:00am Tuesday 29th September 2009

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HARRISON Hall was a happy, healthy two-year-old when he came down with a bit of a cold in February 2008.

But two days later he took a turn for the worse and began having trouble breathing and suffering from sickness and diarrhoea.

Worried mum and dad Vikki and Simon Hall rushed him to hospital where he underwent blood tests and chest X-Rays which revealed he had fluid on the lung.

As his condition stabilised the decision was taken to move him to St Mary’s Hospital in London.

Reassured he was getting better, Simon went home to collect some things while Vikki travelled up to London in the ambulance.

But when Harrison arrived at the hospital his condition deteriorated further.

Just over 12 hours after First being admitted to hospital Harrison’s tiny body gave up its fight and the tot slipped away in his mum’s arms.

Simon, 34, said: “For a little boy it was all just too much.

“The worst thing is that I was not there.”

To add to the pressure on the couple Vikki was 20 weeks pregnant and Gemma, now 15 months, was born a month early due to the stress.

But the devoted parents, of Romsey Close, Benfleet, agree that it is Gemma that has helped get them through.

Vikki, 30, said: “If it wasn’t for her I think I would have lost the plot by now.”

A post mortem revealed Harrison’s death was caused by a Group A Streptococcal infection.

Group A infections include relatively minor things like tonsillitis, but in Harrison’s case it had spread to the blood.

His death has changed the Halls’ outlook on life.

Vikki said: “Because of how quick it happened you realise you don’t know what’s going to happen the next day you have got to live life to the full.”

For Vikki it is the second time she has faced tragedy after her brother Matthew died six years ago from muscular sclerosis aged just 16.

They admit to going through the “if onlys”, wondering if they could have done anything differently, but have been reassured by doctors they did everything they could.

Simon said: “The hardest thing to accept is that there are people in the world who have done terrible things, but it was our child who died who had never hurt anyone.

The couple talk about Harrison all the time with family and friends.

At home they keep some of his favourite toys and clothes in a special cabinet and all the family carry pictures of him everywhere.

Knowing how much he meant to other people is also a comfort to the couple.

First Class Day Nursery in Benfleet HIgh Road where Harrison attended recently raised £5,000 to pay for a guide dog to be trained up in his memory while donations at his funeral raised more than £1,000 for St Mary’s Hospital.

Simon added: “It’s amazing how someone so little can touch so many people.

“Talking about it helps, but family and friends have got to be there.

“You don’t get over it, you just learn to live with it. You don’t have much choice.”

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