Dundee boy beats deadly strain of E coli bug to join twin sister in class

A FIVE-year-old boy whose life hung in the balance when he contracted a rare stomach bug is to join his twin sister for their first full day at school together next week.

Ben and Lucy Parish are set to go to school together following his battling recovery Picture: Paul Reid

Ben Parish was looking forward to starting at Birkhill Primary School, near Dundee, with twin Lucy when he struck down by the potentially fatal strain of E coli 026 on 30 July.

Although most forms of E coli are relatively harmless, E coli 026 is similar in effect to E coli 0157, which killed 21 people after they ate contaminated meat from a butcher's shop in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, in 1996.

The first sign of trouble for Ben, of Muirhead, near Dundee, came when he started having stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

His mother Adele immediately took him to the local GP. The youngster's condition was monitored throughout the day, and as the symptoms were showing no signs of easing, the decision was made to take him to Ninewells Hospital for checks.

These were carried out over the course of the following weekend but Ben's condition remained undiagnosed until 72 hours after he arrived at hospital and his blood sample came back indicating he had Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS).

The condition develops when E coli bacteria in the digestive tract begin to produce toxins that enter the bloodstream and start to destroy red blood cells.

Ben was then transferred to Glasgow's Yorkhill Hospital for Sick Children, where his condition continued to deteriorate.

Ben's kidneys failed and he spent more than a week in intensive care having his blood constantly filtered.

His natural sodium levels plunged to danger level - and medics feared he might have suffered permanent brain damage.

He also temporarily developed diabetes while fighting the infection.

The source of the E coli which caused Ben's illness has not been identified but the bug does occur naturally. Toxin-producing strains tend to be associated with undercooked meat, contaminated water or cattle.

Ben's mother Adele, 34, a former crop scientist, did a "daily handover" at Yorkhill with father Dave, 40, an ornithologist, to ensure Ben always had one of his parents with him while their other two other children, Lucy and three-year-old Eve, stayed at home.

Mrs Parish said seeing her son so unwell had been very distressing. A particularly difficult day came when Lucy went to Birkhill Primary for the first time in August without her brother at her side.

"Ben was in intensive care for eight days then he went up to the renal ward at Yorkhill, where he was for four weeks, and got eight bouts of dialysis on different days until his kidneys started working again," she said.

"It was quite amazing as they had totally shut down and slowly just started working again.

"He couldn't walk as he had lost so much muscle tone from lying in bed for weeks.

"He was in a wheelchair for a bit as he was trying to get the strength to walk."

But Ben is now well on the road to recovery and his next big moment will come on Monday when he joins his P1 classmates for his first full day at school.

Mrs Parish said: "I am just so relieved that it's over and our wee boy is back. When it happened we thought that the day when the twins went to school together for the first time might never come."