When Lakyn woke up crying, his parents had to relive the worst day of their lives
By Victoria Owens|
Little Lakyn is just like any other toddler จC he's happy, playful and loves his toy cars. But unlike most toddlers Lakyn has been in and out of hospital since he was eight months old after suffering a stroke.
His parents, Mikaela and Ethan Pratt, were shocked to discover that babies could even have a stroke จC with the disease more commonly associated with the elderly and ageing.
But stroke affects around 600 children in Australia every year, and as Lakyn's mum tells 9Honey Parenting, she couldn't believe it at the time it all happened.
Watch the video above.
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"I didn't know it was a stroke จC he had been unsettled before he went down for his afternoon nap and we just thought he was teethingกญ but when he woke up, I realised something was wrong."
Mikaela says it was then she noticed "his left side was all limp and his eyes were locked" which is when she raced him to the closest hospital.
But even doctors didn't register that he had suffered a stroke straight away.
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She says the doctor thought it might have been "a pinched nerve in his neck" and so did a video chat to other hospitals, before immediately transferring them to a larger hospital in Maitland.
A quick CT scan finally revealed the bad news.
"That's when they told us that he had a stroke and Ethan and I burst into tears because we didn't expect anything to be wrong with his brain."
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What followed next was weekly hospital and physio appointments to treat Lakyn's brain and muscle development.
But one year after Lakyn's first stroke, he suffered another and Mikaela and Ethan were forced to relive the worst day of their lives all over again.
"Lakyn woke up in the middle of the night cryingกญ when we noticed he was having a seizure. I called the ambulance immediately," Mikaela said.?
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The hospital confirmed what they'd been dreading: Lakyn had had another stroke.
"He was moved into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, but they couldn't control the seizures, so the decision was made to place him into an induced coma to rest his brain to protect from swelling and further seizures."?
At just 21 months old, Lakyn spent three days in an induced coma, which led to six days in PICU and four weeks in hospital.
But soon after he was discharged, Lakyn defied the odds, and started crawling, standing and now a few months later, is even walking.
His mum says he's "such a fighter" and was the inspiration behind her and Ethan taking part in Stride4Stroke, an annual fundraiser encouraging Australians to get active to reduce the risk of stroke while raising money for the cause.
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The pair had started by doing walks around the hospital perimeter each day, which led them to raise over five thousand dollars for the Stroke Foundation's work in Childhood Stroke.
Stroke Foundation Chief Executive Officer Dr Lisa Murphy says unfortunately what's happened to the Pratt family isn't uncommon, because "stroke doesn't discriminate - it affects anyone at any time".
"We regularly hear from families like the Pratt's that there's a lack of help after childhood stroke, and that's why fundraising is so important to bridge that gap."
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Mikaela and Ethan are also hoping by sharing their story they can help other parents who are "always surprised" that stroke can affect babies.
Ethan is hoping they can help provide "better knowledge" to parents so if something similar happens to their children they can "act fast and recognise the symptoms".
The Pratt family know they have an uncertain future ahead, but for now, they're just looking forward to having Lakyn home for Christmas.
