Little Trooper of the Month

Two-year-old Cian lives with his Mum, Claire while Dad, Jordan works away from home and regularly deploys for months at a time, often missing Christmases and birthdays. Cian always finds his Dad going away upsetting as he is so young but this deployment has been particularly difficult for the family as Cian developed life-threatening sepsis and was rushed to hospital last month.

Cian was recovering from impetigo when he suddenly developed a raging temperature, stopped drinking fluids and his behaviour changed. He was unable to sleep and began crying out in pain. Claire rushed Cian to the walk-in centre where they had to wait two hours to be seen by a doctor who spotted that Cian was experiencing febrile seizures and immediately called for an ambulance. The family were then told that no ambulances were available despite Cian’s life-threatening circumstances and Claire had to call her brother who came to the rescue and drove the family to A&E. Cian received treatment as soon as he arrived in hospital and were told they had caught the sepsis just in time.

Cian has made a full recovery just three weeks later and has now been named ‘Little Trooper of the Month’ by the charity Little Troopers after Mum, Claire, nominated him for the award. He will receive a medal, certificate and £50 gift voucher.

Claire explains: “It was a terrifying time, especially with Cian’s Dad is away, but Cian has been super brave and strong. He has dealt with it all amazingly well, better than me! And he always makes me laugh and smile when I’m struggling. He’s shown so much resilience, despite being so young and not really understanding why Daddy is away. I’m really proud of him and I nominated him for the award as I wanted to let him know that he’s been a real little trooper!

“I also want to say a big thank you to my Mum who was by our side the whole time. She then developed severe pneumonia and was hospitalised just a week later, so Cian was missing his Mummy and his Nanny. Thankfully she is also recovering now and on the mend too.”

Louise Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers, comments: “Having a parent deployed overseas is one of the biggest challenges that military children face, so to have to deal with an emergency trip to hospital during this time must have been really difficult for Cian and his family. Cian is an amazing little trooper and I hope he wears his medal with pride.”

This months Little Trooper of the Month has been kindly supported by Anderson Education.

Anderson Education, the UK boarding school specialists, have been supporting Forces families for over 20 years.  We offer free impartial advice and guidance and help families through the process of selecting the right school for their children. Our UK Boarding School Exhibitions provide the opportunity for families to talk to school representatives and find out what the schools have to offer.  Check our website for dates and venues.  Contact us today www.andersoneducation.co.uk