A miracle baby struck down by meningitis has survived despite suffering seven heart attacks in one night.

Ivan Cawley shouldn't have made it through the night after enduring the staggering number of cardiac arrests - including one where his parents lost him for 12 minutes.

Mother and father Sade Jackson, 20, and Phillip Cawley, 24, were told to say goodbye to their first-born after medics said there was little chance of survival.


Sade told how the ten-month-old was left temporarily paralysed and hooked up to a ventilator within hours of contracting the deadly disease.

But now he has one final check-up and should be given the all-clear next week, just two months after his ordeal throughout the night of July 4 and 5.

Sade, of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, said: 'Everything was going fine. I'd had no complications in pregnancy and he was born a healthy 7lb 1oz. We were settling in to being first-time parents.

'It was a Sunday night and we put him to bed as normal and he was fine. But then when he woke up at around 4.30am he was drenched with sweat and his skin felt like it was on fire but at the same time shivering.

'It was really scary. We waited for the doctors to open and took him down straight away.


I had seen a little dot on his belly when I was changing him earlier that day and the doctors said it could be the start of chicken pox, but told us we should go and get him checked out straight away at the hospital.

'At this point we didn't really know what to think - we didn't know what was happening, just that we had to get him seen as soon as possible.'

Over the next few hours more spots developed over Ivan's little body and he was transferred to intensive care at Sheffield Children's Hospital as his functions shut down.

Medics told Ivan's parents that he was critically ill and they were not sure whether he was going to make it through the night.

He then battled through seven cardiac arrests over the course of around eight hours, but each time came round as medics continued to administer oxygen and CPR.

Sade said: 'It was a really horrible time - the longest few hours. It's hard to sum it up really and put into words how we felt.

'It was awful seeing our little baby lying there with all these tubes coming out of him and looking so ill and weak.

'The doctors told us he probably wouldn't make it but him and the doctors kept battling. We lost him for 12 minutes during one of his attacks but amazingly he even pulled through that.'

Ivan was put on a ventilator to keep him alive and he spent the next seven days in intensive care.

Sade said: 'We were told that the worst could happen and to be honest we just thought he wasn't ever going to come round.

'It was the best feeling in the world when he started to show signs he was able to breathe for himself - the hospital staff were amazed by how well he was doing, they said he was a miracle.

'He was transferred to a normal ward and he was getting back to his normal happy self. We felt so lucky to still have him.'

Since his recovery, I van has made a speedy recovery and is back to his usual self as an active and lively little boy.

Sade said: 'He's all over the place now. He has even started to crawl since we have had him back at home. He just has one more check-up at the hospital to go and then we're totally in the clear. It's amazing.'

To thank the Children's Hospital, Sade and Phillip organised a fundraising day at their local pub.