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Beautiful Moment Four-Year-Old Boy Walks For First Time Again After Losing Both Legs To Sepsis

Lucy Devine

Published 
| Last updated 

Beautiful Moment Four-Year-Old Boy Walks For First Time Again After Losing Both Legs To Sepsis

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

An emotional video shows the moment an inspirational little boy walked for the first time since losing both his legs to sepsis.

Four-year-old William Reckless, from Nottingham, was diagnosed in January and spent three months in intensive care. Sadly, the schoolboy had to have both his lower legs and parts of his fingers amputated.

But after getting a pair of prosthetics in May and spending the following months working on his strength, little William has now been able to walk for the first time on his own.

You can watch the heartwarming clip here:

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Walking slowly towards his gran, Trish Brennan, William's mum and dad, Gemma, 30 and Michael, 38, can be heard cheering in the background as the four-year-old takes his first steps.

"When your baby takes their first steps it's magical but when they have to learn a second time, after months of watching their pain, fear, frustration, hard work and determination, the pride we feel is something else," said Gemma.

"It's been difficult for us to learn the world of prosthetic limbs, sockets, and liners, it's new to us all and we're learning as we go.

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In the clip, William can be seen walking for the first time in his prosthetics (Credit: SWNS)
In the clip, William can be seen walking for the first time in his prosthetics (Credit: SWNS)

"He's been resilient for his age, the hardest part was at first when he was healing he preferred to crawl as he could get around easily like that and children don't see the endpoint when working hard towards something.

"But he now understands how important it is, we've turned it into a game for him and he's walking more and more now."

William's ordeal began back in January when Gemma took her son to the GP. William had been feeling unwell and doctors determined he had a virus.

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However, when William's condition didn't improve, Gemma sensed something more serious was happening and took William to the hospital. Within an hour, the little one was induced into a coma for eight days.

Gemma rushed William to the hospital, where he was put in an induced coma (Credit: SWNS)
Gemma rushed William to the hospital, where he was put in an induced coma (Credit: SWNS)

Gemma said: "Eight days is quite a long time for a child, other children were only on ventilators for a day and could then after a few hours chat with their parents.

"But William couldn't really interact with others for weeks, or say a word, and would stare straight through you, but then his speech came back so suddenly."

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William was on the intensive care unit for three months where he was treated for a blood clot, a collapsed lung and a brain injury from lack of oxygen.

"It was awful when he first went into surgery and seeing him in a lot of pain," Gemma continued.

William was in intensive care for three months (Credit: SWNS)
William was in intensive care for three months (Credit: SWNS)

"We were fortunate in not having any difficulties in accessing support, though (due to the Covid-19 lockdown) we've not had as many appointments as we would've done.

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"Since leaving hospital he's had three physio sessions at the mobility centre, he's just got on with it, he's not moaned, and has accepted everything thrown at him.

"His sister didn't notice his legs and was just happy to have her brother home and her play-mate back after three months - she loves helping him to fetch things.

"He's still William. He's adapted amazingly well, he's still upbeat with a good attitude - better than most adults would."

The family have now set up a crowdfunding page to help fund William's treatment (Credit: SWNS)
The family have now set up a crowdfunding page to help fund William's treatment (Credit: SWNS)

After blogging William's journey on the social media pages of her gift business, Little Gems (which had to close while William was poorly) the four-year-old has now become known as 'the conqueror'!

The Reckless family want to tell William's story to help raise awareness of sepsis - and how to spot it.

"So many people don't understand what sepsis is but the quicker you spot it the less damage and higher chance of surviving you have, for both children and adults," said Gemma.

"William had a lot of symptoms, a high temperature, a rash, not urinating. He was not just generally unwell, you know your child."

Sepsis can be very difficult to spot (Credit: SWNS)
Sepsis can be very difficult to spot (Credit: SWNS)

Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection. According to the NHS website, it "happens when your immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage your body's own tissues and organs."

Sepsis can be very difficult to spot, but symptoms include blue, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue; a rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it; difficulty breathing, breathlessness or breathing very fast; having not urinated all day (for adults and older children) or in the last 12 hours (for babies and young children).

It's important to remember the person may not have all of these symptoms. You can find more information here.

The family are now crowdfunding to help pay for William's prosthetics and any home adaptations they need to make. You can donate here.

Topics: Life News, Parenting, Health

Lucy Devine
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