Toddler Fights 'Life-Threatening Infection' After Easter Egg Hunt With Family

A toddler in the U.K. is fighting for his life after a rash quickly spread across his body. His family is now raising awareness and asking for support.

The “beautiful little boy” named Teddie was enjoying Easter with his family when his health began to quickly deteriorate. According to the family, he is at risk of losing his fingers and toes and may experience a lasting impact on his health due to a "life-threatening infection."

Teddie spent Good Friday “bouncing around” and eagerly joined his family in an Easter egg hunt, his uncle said on a GoFundMe fundraiser.

“The next day ... we all got together as a family to watch telly and eat sweets. We had decided to let Teddie stay up to join us,” his mother, Zoe Stewart, told Yahoo News Australia as per a report published Sunday. “He absolutely loved it…was full of smiles.”

Things took a turn the next morning after Stewart woke up on Easter Sunday to find an unwell Teddie crying around 4 a.m. A few hours later, she felt he seemed lethargic and thought he might be catching a cold.

The mother eventually noticed a “light, pale pink mark” on his forehead. Similar pink marks were appearing on his stomach within a couple of hours and Stewart immediately called emergency services.

“After an hour I noticed one of the markings on his neck resembled that of a bruise,” Stewart told the outlet.

She called emergency services again and was told an ambulance was on its way to their house. “As soon as they arrived, they acted quickly and that was the first moment we heard the word meningitis,” Stewart added.

Stewart said her son was taken to Blackburn Hospital, where doctors and nurses began bustling around Teddie and preparing the family for the worst.

“... They continued to drill into both his shin bones to be able to give him what he needed fast,” Stewart told the outlet. “Teddie was bleeding from his nose and mouth. We felt we were in a nightmare.”

Stewart was told her son was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, an infection of the membranes protecting the spinal cord and brain, and septicemia or blood poisoning by bacteria.

“We were told what all parents never want to hear, that we needed to understand there was a chance Teddie may not make it as he has a life-threatening infection,” Stewart continued.

Teddie was transferred to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and spent over two weeks in the ICU. His parents found some relief when he was eventually taken off life support and started breathing on his own, according to 7NEWS. However, he is still being fed through a tube and has suffered slight brain damage.

Stewart said they still do not know the long-term impact the infection might have on Teddie’s health. His fingertips and toes may also be amputated because of the restricted blood supply to those areas.

Teddie’s family is now raising awareness about the “awful illness” and created a fundraising page to help with the medical expenses for the toddler's treatment.