Former The Only Way Is Essex star Lucy Mecklenburgh said she experienced “every parent’s worst nightmare” after finding her 18-month-old son Roman “blue” in his cot.
Mecklenburgh, 30, said the little boy is now back home and “back to his cheeky self” but she and partner Ryan Thomas “may never fully recover”.
She revealed the news on Instagram alongside a picture of Roman in hospital.
Mecklenburgh wrote: “As some of you may have noticed we haven’t been on social media lately.
“Just over a week ago I found Roman blue in his cot – probably every parent’s worst nightmare. Without going into too much detail it ended up with Roman being transferred to St Mary’s London intensive care being put on a ventilator.
“Thankfully we are now all home and Roman is back to his cheeky self.”
Mecklenburgh said she is “eternally grateful” to the ambulance service for its swift response and shared her thanks to Basildon hospital, St Mary’s London paediatric intensive care and the Cosmic charity, which cares for babies and young children in intensive care.
She said she wanted to help with the new children’s garden area at the hospital in Basildon as “it’s unusable at the moment and I know it would bring so much joy to children on the wards”.
Mecklenburgh said she is supporting the Cosmic charity and told fans there is a fundraising link in her Instagram bio for donations.
She added: “Although mentally we as a family may never fully recover, we feel extremely blessed to have our special boy home in our arms and it has truly opened our eyes to all the hardworking superheroes working in our hospitals who dedicate their lives to helping others and how extremely lucky we are to have these incredible medical services free for us all in the UK.
“Thank you NHS and all the charities that support the NHS.”
Thomas, a 37-year-old actor best known for his work on Coronation Street, shared a picture of himself embracing Roman at the hospital.
He wrote on Instagram: “No words can explain how grateful we are to have our little boy home safe after spending nearly a week in intensive care.
“As parents it’s been one of the scariest times of our lives but with thanks to our amazing doctors & nurses we have king Roman back playing, smiling & more importantly eating, i would like to thank the @nhs and also @cosmic_charity who have been unbelievable.”
