Hospice was a saviour for Alfie... not a place to die, but a place to live

YOUNGSTER SUFFERED LIFE-LIMITING INJURY AT BIRTH - BUT ACORNS HELPED HIM ENJOY VERY SPECIAL TIMES

- NICK HORNER News Reporter

Paul and Vicki are backing Acorns Children's Hospice's Celebrate Your Star campaign in memory of Alfie

A DAD has spoken of the moment he went from the “highest of highs” following the birth of his first son to the “crushing low” of being told he had suffered an unimaginable injury during childbirth.

Paul and Vickie Johnson had prepared for the birth of little Alfie by painting his nursery and preparing his new cot ready for the moment he arrived in the world.

But that moment of pure joy was soon clouded in sadness when doctors told them that Alfie had suffered a permanent, life-limiting injury as he was born.

Alfie was born blue, but at first nurses said it was nothing to worry about and he was taken to neonatal care as a precaution.

Paul said: “I was so proud; he was moving around and kicking and I remember saying excitedly to my wife Vickie, ‘Look he’s going to be a footballer.”

But devastatingly, Alfie was not just wriggling, he was having a seizure.

Paul continued: “That’s when the walls closed in. You're taken into that quiet room, and the door is closed behind you, and they told us Alfie had suffered permanent brain damage during labour.