My 10-month-old baby boy was admitted to Coventry Hospital with bronchiolitis and was working extremely hard to breathe. By the second day of his admission, he was exhausted and deteriorating, and he was transferred to HDU in the middle of the night. He was started on CPAP, but unfortunately, this did not have the improvement we had hoped for.

He continued to breathe very rapidly and was clearly struggling. A consultant reviewed him several times, and we were eventually told that we had one hour to see improvement. If there was no change, he would need to be sedated, placed on a ventilator, and transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital. An anaesthetist attended and prepared their team to be on standby.

At this incredibly frightening moment, Mags used her experience and expertise to suggest changing the respiratory support from CPAP to BiPAP. She discussed this with the consultant, who agreed to proceed. The change had an immediate and remarkable effect. Our baby boy improved straight away and was finally able to rest. He slept peacefully for two full days and nights. From that point on, he steadily recovered.

He was gradually weaned off oxygen and onto room air, received his feeds through his NG tube, and when he woke up, he was smiling, full of energy, playing with his toys, and back to being his usual adventurous self. We truly believe that without Mags’ knowledge, confidence, and willingness to speak up, our baby would have been sedated and placed on a ventilator.

Her actions changed the course of his care and allowed him to recover without further invasive treatment. Thanks to her, we were able to bring our baby home and have a later Christmas.