Five-year-old Scottish boy who has been in hospital most of his life to spend first Christmas at home

A five-year-old boy who has spent most of his life in hospital in Glasgow has gone home for Christmas for the first time.

Oscar was given a card by staff as he left the ward.

Oscar Edgar has been a patient of the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow since his birth in April 2015.

He had an undiagnosed neurological/muscular/respiratory condition, which means he was ventilated until he was four-and-a-half.

Oscar is unable to eat or speak, but understands everything around going on him and has recently learned to walk.

Picture: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

He has spent a “long and complex” five years in and out of hospital, but has made some progress and is now able to go home for Christmas for the first time.

His mother Megan, 23, said bringing her son home a week before Christmas was a “dream come true”, especially as there had been occasions when she believed she would lose him.

She added that she would miss the “amazing” staff who had worked with Oscar and supported her.

“Everyone in that hospital loves Oscar and he loves all of them,” she said.

Oscar was clapped by staff as he left.

"From the doctors and nurses to the cleaners and catering staff – even the staff in the shops know Oscar because we’ve been there so long. It took us two hours to go round everyone and say goodbye.

"We honestly thought the day would never come. Oscar’s had the last rites on more than one occasion and the staff were there to support me every time. So now, to get him home a week before Christmas is like a dream come true.”

Ms Edgar said hospital staff have been a particular support to her as she was just 17 when Oscar was born, and they have made sure she looked after herself as well as caring for her son.

“I was 17 when I had Oscar and I didn’t even know what a disabled person was,” she said.

"The hospital was my home too for eight months in 2017. I have grown with Oscar and I’m now able to operate all sorts of medical machinery. They made all that possible.

“On the difficult days they were there to offer not just care, but cuddles and always made sure I had eaten and drank enough. They always had time to speak to me about how I was feeling.

“They have also made so many things possible. We were told we might never get Oscar home, but with their help we have had trips to the cinema, Disney on Ice and even Edinburgh and the nurses were with us every step."

Senior charge nurse Eleanor Selkirk said Ward 3A had become Oscar’s home over the past few years, adding that staff would miss him, as well as Ms Edgar and Oscar’s younger brother Theo.

"Oscar’s had lots of ‘firsts’ on his journey with us - first sign language (often teaching us all along the way), his first steps, his first expression, his first day at nursery and then school, his first ‘rave’ and his first sibling – when he became a big brother to Theo,” she said. “Ward 3A became Oscar’s home and Megan and Theo’s second home. He knows everyone and is very much a part of the family, as are Megan and Theo.

"Whilst we were delighted to see him going home to be with mum and brother, we are all going to miss him very much and have, for the last few weeks, been saying our private goodbyes as we worked our last shifts with him.”

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