A grieving mum has shared how her beloved little boy died just 48 hours after complaining of a stomach ache.
Jude Chinn – described as “happy, healthy, smiley, wonderful, caring” by his mum – passed away unexpectedly last summer.
The three-year-old was taken for treatment after a night of stomach pains and vomiting.
Jude was given scans at Musgrove Park Hospital which revealed his bowel had become twisted, reports Somerset Live.
He was then taken in for emergency surgery and rushed to Bristol Children’s Hospital – but doctors couldn’t save him.
Jude, from Taunton, sadly died on June 5, leaving his family heartbroken.
Mum Laura Chinn said: “He was a happy, healthy, smiley, wonderful, caring little boy.
If you want to donate to the family’s fundraising drive you can visit the JustGiving page by clicking here.
“He loved his little brothers, who are [aged] six and one.
“He was fine, had no underlying health conditions or anything, then went to bed having just FaceTimed his granddad and uncle.
“An hour later he was complaining of a tummy ache and was sick throughout the night.
“In the morning he was quite unresponsive, drifting in and out.
“We rang for help and he was rushed into Musgrove Park hospital where they tried to assess what was going on.”
She continued: “Initially they thought it was diabetes until they scanned his abdominal and ruled that out.
“They found there was loads of fluid in there that shouldn’t be there and rushed him into surgery where they had to cut out part of his bowel as it had died off.
“They did the surgery at Musgrove, before sending him to Bristol Children’s Hospital where he received the care that he needed.
“Unfortunately, he was fighting for his life for 24 hours on life support and ventilators before he slipped away.
“At that point, our world fell apart.”
The family described the support and attention they received from Bristol Children’s Hospital as incredible.
Laura added: “We were just blown away by the care and compassion shown from every single member of staff.
“It was the worst time of our lives, but each member of staff came in with such positivity and energy, it gave us hope that everything would be normal and alright.
“That is what inspired us to want to give back.”
Dad Richard Chinn said: “I said to the staff as we were leaving that we’re going to raise as much money as possible because anybody in our situation deserves that.”
It was then that the idea of a charity cycle for Jude came around.
A team of 18 people are planning to complete the 900-mile trip from John O’Groats to Land’s End in just nine days in his memory.
This averages 100 miles a day, and they hope that family and friends can surround them at the finishing line.
Richard said: “We came home and within a couple of weeks we’d discussed with a few friends what we wanted to do.
“We wanted to do something that would be hard work, really difficult and take a lot of dedication, not fun.
“Three or four of us came up with the idea to cycle from John O’ Groats to Land’s End, and it caught fire from there.
“We set up an initial target of £1,250 and we changed it to £10,000 and hit that within 48 hours. £20,000 was hit by New Year’s Eve.
“We don’t have a target in mind, we just want to keep raising as much money as possible.”
“It goes a long way to helping other families who are in our situation to receive great care and support in the hospital and after as well.”
The JustGiving page has raised more than £23,500 raised by 727 supporters.
Richard added: “My six-year-old son is going to cycle the last six miles with us into Land’s End which is going to be quite emotional for us.
“On May 8 we’ll be cycling from Bristol to Okehampton. We’ll be going through Taunton and stopping at the Cricket Ground for lunch with everybody.
“The team of 18 comprises people from 35 to 50s, it started off as just two or three people and it caught fire.
“Within a couple of weeks, we had to cap the numbers at 18 as it would become a logistical nightmare otherwise.
“We’re all training regularly and updating each other on our WhatsApp group and giving each other inspiration.”
They’ve set up a website which can be visited here, or the JustGiving page can also be found by clicking here.
More Stories
Food to Eat and to Avoid After Receiving Dental Implants
The Risks and Dangers of Manual Pupil Evaluation in Neurological Treatment
At Home Bleeding Gum Care