Boy, just look at baby Michael Lowe now!

Michael Lowe was diagnosed with acute septicaemia - he is now healthy

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Paul Lowe has revealed the trauma which he and his wife went through after their baby boy Michael Lowe was diagnosed with acute septicaemia and hospitalised for 12 days with the life-threatening condition.

Michael, who is now five months old, is recovering well and Paul is gearing up to run a mini marathon for the charity that supported the family.

Despite a "perfect" pregnancy the youngster's life was in jeopardy within 24 hours of being born.

Paul said: "It was a perfect pregnancy - the birth was perfect, it was all text book. That is why it has been so traumatic.

"Michael had had a couple of feeds and we thought he would be home without any worries.

"One of the midwives said she would keep an eye on him but that I could return home."

However, Paul received a phone call at 3am to say Michael had been admitted into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Royal Oldham Hospital.

He said: "I rushed to the hospital. He had gone from being this lovely pink perfect little boy to being almost unrecognisable. He was very weak, he had high temperatures, he was reliant on all sorts of tubes.

"It was a huge shock. I feel those first days have been stolen from us, but we are incredibly grateful to all the staff. We could not fault them on any level."

Hospital staff then placed the family in touch with Oldham-based neonatal charity Spoons who were holding an event on the neonatal unit in November to mark World Prematurity Day.

Spoons gave the couple several gifts for Michael, including Spoons Milestones cards and a vest saying NICU Hero.

Kirsten Mitchell, who heads up the charity, said: "I think Paul and Becks took great comfort in chatting to other parents at the event, particularly those who had had babies who had been discharged from neonatal care.

"After Michael was discharged they kept in touch via our parent forum and it has been lovely to see Michael do so well."

Paul and a team of 18 colleagues from housing provider One Manchester will take on the Simplyhealth Greater Manchester Run in aid of Spoons.

Transformation programme manager Paul said: "Whilst the hospital's medical staff try to support the parents as best they can, they are often stretched and rightly channel their time into primary care.

"Spoons were able to provide a softer side of care and wider emotional support. This really helped us hold ourselves together, which I could never put a price on."

Kirsten said: "We are really grateful to Paul for the supporting Spoons and consequently supporting other families who are experiencing what his own family went through.

"We will have a team of supporters at the run on the day and look forward to meeting the rest of the guys at One Manchester to express our thanks."

Paul and his team hope to raise £1,000 by taking on the 10k business challenge on Sunday 28 May.

To donate visit:

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/OneManchesterRunners