A 7-week-old baby was left fighting for his life after his doctor dismissed his alarming symptoms twice.
Mother-of-five Courtney Nixon from Fernwood, Notthingham, took his son Colton Weir to his GP after he started vomiting every feed. He also developed a chesty cough, and his breathing became labored.
However, they were immediately sent home after the GP said that there was nothing wrong with the baby and that his breathing was ‘normal’ newborn breathing.
But the next day, Courtney returned to the GP when Colton stopped feeding. She was then told that her baby was just dehydrated and she could take him to hospital.
After arriving at Queens Medical Center, an oxygen check revealed that Colton’s oxygen levels were very low and he was diagnosed with bronchitis.
The 7-week-old baby spent more than 48 hours in ICU, with doctors discussing ventilating and intubating him.
“They told me at the hospital that if I had not taken him in when I did, he would not have made it through the afternoon. And it would have been registered as a cot death, because the GP had failed to pick up on what was wrong with him,” Courtney said.
The mother-of-five said that within one hour of arriving at the hospital, medics had immediately put Colton in ICU where he was put on high-pressure oxygen for several days.
Courtney is now urging GP surgeries to carry out oxygen tests on young children.
She also called on other parents not to be afraid “to push the doctors if you feel they’re not right.”
After receiving treatment at the hospital, Colton is now breathing normally again and they finally returned home.
But she has slammed Balderton Primary Care Center for letting her son end up in a critical condition.
“I spoke to a senior doctor who said they would be making some changes and would make sure they had the right monitors to carry out oxygen tests on children,” she said.
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