Toddler diagnosed with lung cancer after collapsing at nursery makes miracle recovery after parents switched off life support
The family of Dylan Askin were told to say goodbye as he deteriorated in hospital, but he managed to pull through
A TODDLER who was diagnosed with lung cancer after collapsing at nursery made a miracle recovery after his life support switched off.
The parents of three-year-old Dylan Askin had made the heartbreaking to decision to switch off life support after he had a series of lung collapses, cancer diagnosis, a severe infection and seizure.
But the youngster pulled through, and continues to make a good recovery despite the earlier devastating diagnosis.
He first collapsed and stopped breathing at Little Nippers nursery in Derby and Caroline Blake stepped in to give him CPR while they waited for an ambulance.
She told the : "It was definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time. He went downhill over the course of only about 10 minutes and he was gasping for air.
"I thought 'oh he is going', so I started four rounds of CPR.
"The boy's mum was there, she was heavily pregnant at the time, and she let me get on with it, which must have been difficult for her."
After Dylan was rushed to hospital, results of a biopsy showed he had Pulmonary Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis.
Following this diagnosis he was given chemotherapy but developed an infection and had a seizure, which caused him to stop breathing again.
His family made the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support but he began to slowly improve and was discharged from hospital in April.
Dylan's mother Kerry has nominated the quick-thinking nursery worker for an award for her actions.
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She said he first had a collapsed lung on Christmas Day last year, and after doctors looked into it they found he potentially had cysts and fluid in his lungs.
He then had another single collapse on his right lung four days after he was discharged, but on February 10, he collapsed at nursery.
Mrs Askin said: "On February 10, he had a double collapse at Little Nippers nursery. His breathing became laboured quickly and I took him into the lobby and called 999 and was told I would get a phone call back.
"He got worse so I called again and stressed the nature of his condition.
"Then I was just on my third phone call back to them to express how quickly he was deteriorating when he stopped breathing and the wonderful Caroline Blake took over and gave rescue breaths so I could continue on the phone to the paramedic counting his breathing out once he started up again."
Eventually, after the cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy and battling through a severe infection, Dylan was discharged on April, and continues to recover well.
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