'Sickness bug' leaves 11-year-old Leighton schoolboy fighting for his life with heart failure


Trey Taylor, who is 11, is in such critical condition that his only hope is a heart transplant and doctors are currently assessing whether he is viable for this major operation.
The terrifying saga began on January 6, when his mum Elise took Trey to the Milton Keynes urgent care centre because he had severe sickness and a pain at the top of his stomach.
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Hide AdBut doctors quickly realised the previously fit and healthy Leighton Middle School student was suffering from no ordinary tummy bug.


To Elise's horror, they discovered Trey’s heart was only functioning at 10% and his kidneys and liver were failing.
He was rushed from urgent care through to A&E, where staff contacted the specialist team at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
They immediately assessed the situation and decided Trey needed to be taken to a hospital that had access to an artificial heart and life support machine called an ECMO.
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Hide AdInitially, it was decided to send him to Southampton and he was put in a medically induced coma in a bid to protect his failing organs during the journey.
But part way through, doctors decided Trey would not survive the lengthy drive to Southampton so diverted him to London’s Royal Brompton hospital instead.
His aunt, Luci Brown, said: “They said he would likely die once they assessed him but he kept fighting, still in his coma to help his body rest.”
Now, nine days on, Trey is still in a coma, being kept alive by ECMO machine. And sadly his heart has shown no signs of repairing.
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Hide Ad"Each hour feels like a year as the risks are high and as he stays on the machine the risks grow,” said Luci. "What generally started off as a bad bout of a sickness bug turned into our worst nightmare.”
Elise and husband Dan are keeping constant vigil at their son’s bedside while doctors carry out vital assessments to see whether a heart transplant could save his life.
His aunt Luci has set up a special fundraising page to ease the family’s financial burden and help with travel costs and bills during the nightmare time. You can view the page here.
Meanwhile, there has still been no official diagnosis for Trey.
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Hide AdMum Elise said: “Currently they are undertaking tests to gain a formal diagnosis. It is highly suspected to be a form of heart disease which ffects the walls/muscles of the heart.
"I have now learnt that sickness is a sign of heart failure - however, this is not common knowledge. Heart failure can initially present as as sepsis, a sickness bug or an infection.”
Elise added: “We are in the process of completing the viability requirements for transplant. At this stage it seems to be our only option as his heart has not shown signs of repair while on the ECMO machine.
“We have not received any confirmation on viability as of yet. We remain positive and hope that the team can deem our little man viable for the transplant list to save his life.”
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Hide AdShe has thanked the “amazing” hospitals – MK emergency department, John Radcliffe specialists and transport team, the Royal Brompton and the Brompton Fountain charity.
Meanwhile, Elise has urged people to donate to the fundraising appeal if they can afford it.
"Obviously due to these heartbreaking circumstances, Elise and Dan cannot work and need to stay with Trey. These things are all the worries we would like to take away from them so they can concentrate on their son as this will be an ongoing journey for him and the whole family.
“Anything you could donate would help us so much.”