What happened to Tony Hudgell and what were his injuries?
KENT youngster Tony Hudgell had to have his legs amputated after severe abuse from his birth parents.
Despite this, Hudgell has gone from strength to strength, becoming a fundraiser and receiving a Pride of Britain award.
What happened to Tony Hudgell?
Tony, from West Malling, Kent, was born October 8, 2014.
He suffered serious life-threatening injuries after being admitted to hospital in 2015 with distressing signs of abuse from his birth parents Jody Simpson and Tony Smith.
The parents claimed Tony's injuries were down to a “terrible accident”, but it was clear his injuries were going to be life-changing.
Reportedly, his doctors not expecting him to survive the ordeal.
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The couple were taken to Maidstone Magistrates court and denied causing or allowing serious physical harm to a child and cruelty to a person under 16.
Smith and Simpson were convicted of assaulting, ill-treating and neglecting Tony Hudgell in 2018.
They were each sentenced to 10 years in prison, then the maximum sentence after the jury reportedly took less than an hour to return unanimous guilty verdicts.
Hudgell was left severely disabled after his parents attacked him when he was a baby, with both of his legs amputated.
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In August 2022, Smith was denied early release from prison.
What were Tony Hudgell's injuries?
Tony was only 41 days old when he was admitted to hospital with injuries including a permanently dislocated left hip, arthritis, deafness, and infections.
By the time the GP saw him, Tony was on death's door and was raced to hospital in an ambulance.
By the time the baby arrived at the hospital, he had turned grey, had froth at the sides of his mouth and his legs were swollen and hard.
They then discovered he had multiple organ failure, septicaemia, toxic shock syndrome, and fractures to both thighs, lower legs ankles toes, and thumbs.
He also had a mass on the brain and ended up on life support.
His biological parents had reportedly swung him around so violently by the legs, they were broken in eight places.
His injuries meant he would have special needs for life, needing prosthetic legs, and leaving him partially deaf.
Where is Tony Hudgell now?
Tony was adopted by Paula and Mark Hudgell, at 4 months old, shortly after being discharged from hospital in February 2015.
Paula described the moment she saw Tony for the first time: "Presented in front of me was this tiny, broken, shut-down, underweight, legs in plaster, four-month-old baby.
"I broke down in tears. I absolutely sobbed. I thought, 'I can't do this'. But within two hours of being with him, I knew there was no way I was going to leave him.
"He soon settled in and within a week he was smiling away."
Paula was told the Crown Prosecution Service were not planning on prosecuting his birth parents on grounds of insufficient evidence, and not knowing which parent caused the injuries.
She went on to gather the evidence and appealed the decision.
She said: "I started to think about the children who die, and have no one to fight for them, or the children who are not adopted and do not have anyone on their side."
The family began to campaign for terms for child cruelty to be increased, and Tony's Law came to pass., meaning the maximum sentence for child abuse has been increased to life in prison.
Tony has since learned how to walk on his new prosthetic legs and has even done a 10km walk, raising £1.3m for the NHS.
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He has had kind words from celebrities such as Ant and Dec and even appeared on This Morning.
He even went on to win a Pride of Britain award.