A father has spoken of his terror after his seven-month-old son was rushed into hospital gasping for breath with Covid-19 after catching it from him and his partner.
The crisis began between Christmas and New Year when Bonnie Saunders, a nurse at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen, Wales, developed coronavirus symptoms.
She had recently returned to work following maternity leave after the birth of her son Jack last year.
Aware of the significance of her symptoms, she arranged to have a Covid-19 test at the local testing station in the Nantyci area, which returned positive.
A few days later her fiancé Alan James started to get similar symptoms, and he too then tested positive.
Mr James, a lecturer at Coleg Sir Gâr who lives in Carmarthen, thought everything would be fine and that baby Jack would not contract the virus, or at least if he did, he would be able to bounce back from it quickly.
Children seem to be less at risk of developing severe coronavirus symptoms and dying from the disease, due to differences between the bodies and immune systems of youngsters and adults, research indicates.
But on January 2, Jack fell ill, developing a fever and eventually starting to wheeze heavily, really struggling to breathe and gasping for air, Mr James said.
Jack was put in the ambulance and his mother Bonnie was allowed to go with him to hospital, where he was treated with steroids and given oxygen to help him breathe.
He was kept in all day and allowed home when his condition improved on Tuesday night.
Mr James said his son was now ‘on the mend’ but his recovery might take some time, along with his own.
His partner’s recuperation has been quicker, perhaps owing to the fact that she has already received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.