A dad leapt into action and miraculously saved his little boy’s life by performing CPR after the tot ‘died’ in his mum’s arms.
10-month-old Eljiah Jarvis went ‘white’ and ‘floppy’ at home when he was five weeks old due a condition called tracheomalacia – which caused his airway to collapse.
His terrified mum, Kensie Urwin, 20, feared her little boy was dead and cried out for dad, Tyron Jarvis, 23, to call 999.
Whilst they waited for paramedics to rush to their home, Tyron heroically performed CPR on their son – under the instructions of the emergency call handler.
Tyron performed CPR for two minutes and managed to bring Elijah back and get him breathing – just in time for medics to arrive.
Elijah was taken to Royal Victoria Infirmary Hospital, Newcastle, in October 2019 and spent the next few weeks in and out of hospital.
After his stomach and bowel moved up into his lung – causing further breathing issues – Elijah underwent an op to staple them back in place and he was finally able to go home in January 2020.
Elijah was born with a catalogue of health issues including a missing kidney and problems with his airway and food pipe – leaving him with a permanent ‘smoker-like cough’.
Despite an uncertain future, his worried parents are overjoyed to finally have their little boy back home and are enjoying time together as a family.
Kensie, a full-time mum, from South Sheilds, Tyne and Wear, said: “Elijah has lots of health issues but we didn’t know how bad the tracheomalacia was until we got him home after he was born.
“Suddenly he went white and floppy in my arms and screamed to my partner.
“He wasn’t breathing and I couldn’t feel his heartbeat.
“I thought he was dead – it was the most terrifying moment of my life.
“Tyron was amazing and jumped in to perform CPR.
“He must have been doing it for about two minutes but it felt like forever.
“I had never heard of this condition before – it’s not something I’ve ever dealt with.
“He’s got lots of health conditions and we’re not sure what the future holds but we’re so happy to have him home.”
Kensie and Tyron – who is currently unemployed – were overjoyed when they discovered they were expecting their third child in December 2018.
Although doctors noticed her little boy was missing a kidney during their 12 week scan, the pregnancy went well, and Kensie went into labour at 37 weeks and two days.
The proud parents welcomed baby Elijah Tyron Jarvis into the world on August 23rd 2019 – weighing 4lb 13oz.
Although hours after he was born, Elijah was whisked away for surgery when doctors noticed he was struggling to breathe.
Kensie said: “We were told he was missing a kidney during one of the scans but it wasn’t too much of a concern.
“He still had one we’d have to wait until he was older to see how it would affect him.
“The pregnancy went well and everything was fine during the labour.
“Then when he was a few hours old we noticed his breathing was funny.
“Doctors rushed him to surgery when they noticed a blockage in his airway.”
Elijah was found to have lots of complications with his airway and wind pipe including tracheomalacia – when the airway collapses and makes it feel harder to breathe.
Doctors also discovered he had a tethered spine, which is when the spinal cord is attached to tissue around the spine and causes reduced movement.
Every child is different and Kensie is unaware of how it would affect Elijah over the years.
Kensie said: “After surgery, we also found out that he had TOF – a problem with the connection of his food pipe and airway.
“It’s left him with this rattly cough or ‘TOF cough’ – but we call it his ‘smokers cough’.
“With trachemalacia – we didn’t realise how bad it was and kids can grow out of it.
“Sometimes when he was crying or feeding his throat would close and he’d struggle.
“After a couple of weeks we were able to go home and I hoped things would get better.”
At five weeks old, Kensie was at home with the family, including daughter’s Lexi, four, and one-year-old Amelia, when Elijah suddenly took a turn for the worse.
She said: “I was holding him and noticed he was crying not making any noise.
“Suddenly we went white and floppy – he looked like he was dead.
“I screamed to Tyron who ran in and we called 999.
“Someone on the line talked to him through the CPR technique on the phone.
“I guess something just kicked in – he saved Elijah’s life.
“He was performing it for about two minutes and he got Elijah breathing just before the paramedics arrived.
“He was really amazing and calm, I hate to think how things could have gone.”
Elijah was rushed into hospital in October 2019 and kept in for five weeks while he had another operation on his throat.
After being discharged, Kensie took her little boy for a routine check-up in November 2019 and the GP arranged an x-ray for Elijah.
They discovered Elijah’s stomach and bowel had moved up and into his lungs – causing more difficulty with his breathing.
Kensie said doctors believe it was caused after a nerve was ‘nipped’ in his diaphragm during a previous surgery.
After an op to staple the organs back in places, Elijah was finally allowed to go back home in January 2020.
Kensie said: “He’s been in and out of hospital and was there over Christmas, which was really tough.
“It was hard not spending it together as a family but he was a little fighter.
“He’s finally home but it’s got lots of health issues and we don’t know how they’ll all affect him.
“We don’t know what effect the missing kidney will have or if he’ll need a transplant.
“Or the issues with his diaphragm or his spine, it’s all a bit of a waiting game.
“I had never been through anything like this before and had never heard of any of these conditions.
“Hopefully I can help other parents with my story.
“For now we’re just taking each day and enjoying having Elijah home.”
