Today we meet Isaac and his parents, Nikki and Richard, in his bedroom at The Children’s Trust, after eight weeks of intensive neurorehabilitation. Once he has fully woken up from his nap, he sets off exploring, building car racing track underneath his specially adapted bed.
"He was really, really poorly”
Nikki takes us back to how Isaac sustained his brain injury: “At the end of October 2024, Isaac had been unwell with normal nursery coughs and colds. He had a couple of hospital visits, and the second time he was taken by ambulance where they felt he had a bacterial and viral infection on his lungs. He was given a two-week course of antibiotics, and we went home.
“We took him into nursery one Thursday and he was absolutely fine; really, really happy. He was at that stage where he was cruising along furniture, crawling well, starting to talk etc. I picked him up at 4pm and they said he had been a bit wobbly on and off so they weren’t sure if he was getting an ear infection.
“That evening, I gave him his antibiotic and noticed he was losing his grip in his right hand, but there were no signs of him going limp or anything like that. And then as the evening progressed, he started vomiting. We called 111 for advice, and as we were on the phone his eyes started rolling into the back of his head and he became unresponsive. They sent an ambulance straight away.
“Several days of tests revealed that Isaac had infective endocarditis. One of the infections that he’d had over the previous weeks had gotten into his blood stream and caused a vegetation on his aortic valve, a piece of that had broke off and caused a stroke which had seriously affected the majority of the left hemisphere of his brain.”
Isaac was moved to Birmingham hospital where he was in ICU before undergoing heart surgery. Nikki remembers: “They told us when we first got to Birmingham that he might not survive the weekend. We were asked to call family to come and say goodbye to him.
“He needed the surgery desperately, but the blood thinners he needed for the surgery could have caused a bleed on the brain or swelling, so we had to wait 72 hours for him to be out of the critical period. He had his surgery on the Thursday, so exactly a week after he had his stroke, he had surgery. After that he just bounced back from there. He’s done really, really well. He’s a very strong little boy.”
Starting rehabilitation
When Isaac awoke from the surgery the effects of his brain injury became clear. Isaac was unable to sit up, roll over or eat safely. After five weeks in hospital, the family had a brief time at home for Christmas, and then came to The Children’s Trust for an eight-week rehabilitation placement in January 2025.
Nikki shares how it felt on arrival: “It was a bit of a whirlwind. I felt a bit bewildered because it’s a lot to take in. It's completely new. I know the first few weeks were quite exhausting, but I think we settled in quite quickly.”
Isaac was given a timetable of rehabilitation therapy including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy.
Isaac moving around independently during a dance session.
Nikki reflects on how the staff worked hard to engage him: “The therapy teams are amazing, and the sessions are very individualised. With an older child you can say ‘come on, you can try and pick that up, you can try and push that ball’, but you can't do that with a 14-month-old, you’ve got to be a lot more creative in how you are getting him to engage those muscles and engage those limbs.
“Being at The Children’s Trust has opened us up and given us more ideas of how we can keep things fresh, because I think it would be quite easy to do the same things over and over again and get rutted.”
“He’s come a long, long way”
Today it’s wonderful to see Isaac crawling around his room, investigating nooks and crannies and playing with his toys. He proudly pulls himself up smiling, holding up his favourite toy and announces “car!”
After eight weeks of hard work, Isaac is now able to move around and play independently and is back to eating foods. He is engaging in the world around him and communicating verbally and non-verbally, smiling, waving, pointing and saying some words.
Nikki shares: “Last week he was able to walk from the rehab centre to his room and most of the way back again, holding our hands. We didn’t think we would be there eight weeks ago when he was still toppling over sitting up, so that’s a massive thing.
“That’s down to the therapy and all the input that he has had, because it’s been so swift. I know with a stroke everything you can do in those first few months is imperative and we’ve been able to get that input so early on, it’s invaluable. It’s meant that he can get his best start in life to be able to progress and thrive.”
Isaac making friends during an enrichment session.
The next chapter
This week marks Isaac’s last week at The Children’s Trust, and his parents have something special planned for his last day.
Nikki tells us: “I was chatting to Isaac’s physiotherapist about things I used to do with Isaac before his brain injury. I used to go running and take him in his running buggy which he really enjoyed, so we’re going to do his bell-ringing ceremony and then do a lap of the grounds. It will be the first time I’ve ran since he’s had a stroke so it will be a nice chapter marker.”
After he has returned home, Isaac will continue his therapy within his community, and his parents are hoping to reintegrate him back to nursery in the next month or so.
“The support from The Children’s Trust has been lifechanging really, and it’s going to set him up with some really good foundations and building blocks for him to keep working on. It’s given us a lot of tools that we can use to support him as well.” Nikki
Isaac making music during an enrichment session.
