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“You worry as a parent that your child will never be able to see the beautiful world around them.”
Antonia Kemble’s son Logan was just five-weeks-old when he suffered a bleed on the brain due to a vitamin K deficiency.
Vitamin K is needed by the body for blood clotting – helping wounds heal.
Miraculously, Logan survived, but at the age of three and after multiple brain surgeries, he has been left facing a future with long-term health issues.
He is registered blind and has a sensory processing disorder. He has also undergone surgery to have a shunt fitted – a tube to drain excess brain fluid – to reduce the risk of further bleeds.
Antonia spoke to Caerphilly Observer about how hard the past couple of years has been after being told Logan may not be able to walk, talk or even recognise his own mum.
She said: “Logan was born with no complications and then after five weeks our world gets flipped upside down.
“With Logan’s health issues and the amount of appointments, I was unable to return to work and I became his full-time carer. Mentally the decision was the right one but financially it wasn’t and we nearly lost everything.
“We found ourselves millimetres from needing to sell our home” Antonia added.
Although Antonia managed the first two years, she really wanted to focus on improving Logan’s quality of life.
She found a private clinic in Germany that said it could help “recharge Logan’s damaged brain cells” as well as balance, speech and mobility through a two-week course of treatment.
Antonia, from Abertridwr, explained: “Imagine that your phone battery was on five percent but once charged it has greater capacity. That’s what Logan’s brain is like.”
However, to afford the treatment, the family needed to raise £12,000. Within just four weeks, £13,000 was raised thanks to support from the community.
The treatment has left the family optimistic about how it has changed Logan’s quality of life and are hopeful that further treatment will continue to improve this.
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Antonia said: “Before going to Germany, Logan’s capacity to see and communicate was very limited as was his walking and visual awareness. Within days of treatment we noticed subtle changes. Logan’s speech and mobility was improving.
“It has been mind-blowing to see the progress that he’s made since the treatment.
“Although his vision is still poor, he can now tell people apart by shirt colour, which is great. He can even ride a bike.”
Logan’s neurologist has told Antonia that children up until the age of five are much easier to ‘rewire’ so it’s important that Logan continues to receive as much stimulation as possible.
Due to the success of the first visit, Logan has been invited back for a second course of treatment this September with hopes of further development.
“Going out anywhere is difficult too. Although it has improved, Logan still has sensory meltdowns meaning we have to go home.
“People often look and stare as if he’s a naughty child but the reality is so much more than that and it’s emotionally hard to deal with.
“Logan’s condition is so unique that people just don’t understand, when you look at him he seems like a healthy boy.”
The circumstances of Logan’s needs means he requires continuous support throughout the day and night which has proven difficult for Antonia.
“In October 2021, Logan accessed a playgroup three hours a day and three days per week through Assisted Places to see how he would adapt to a nursery setting. That was a great relief for me.
“Now that he’s accessing nursery, the Assisted Places funding has recently stopped which is disappointing as Logan needs this additional time in order to progress.
“My fear is that without this additional time he will start to regress. If that happens we would have to look at transferring him to Trinity Fields.”
Once again, Antonia needs help raise another £12,000 needed for further treatment.
You can read more about Logan’s story on his Facebook page Logan’s Fundraising and help the family raise £12,000 for further treatment on Just Giving.
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