Fire engulfs poorly boy's family home

THE FAMILY of a critically-ill boy have been left homeless after a fire engulfed their home while he was undergoing surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

- HOLLY MORGAN

In summer 2024, parents Sian, 29, and Jason Waite, 37, from Newbridge, took their family of six on a summer holiday abroad. Little did they know it would be this holiday that left their two-year-old-son fighting for his life in intensive care.

While on holiday, toddler Freddie accidentally inhaled a tiny piece of plastic from a toy bullet.

After arriving back home in Wales, the following months consisted of Freddie complaining of pain in his chest, and constant hospital appointments. These resulted in him being diagnosed with chest infections, asthma, and polyps and being prescribed inhalers, antibiotics and steroids. But his symptoms persisted, and started getting worse.

It got so bad, when Sian was attending a GP appointment for herself, the doctor assessing her said they could “hear Freddie's chest from here” and so urged her to call an ambulance.