By Mickey Ferry
STAFF at Strabane's Riverside Surgery have been praised for their quick thinking, which a local mum says helped to the life of her four-year-old son.
Lukas Crozier was eventually diagnosed with Bacterial Tracheitis after spending a period in the intensive care unit of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.
But his mum Alanah is convinced that the initial quick thinking of the staff at the medical practice were vital in ensuring that Lukas survived.
Two weeks ago, the four year old was taken to out of hours with a dry 'barking' cough, which his mum thought was croup.
She says, "He was given an antibiotic and I took him home again. Later in the morning his breathing got worse. It was as if he was concentrating so hard on getting the next breath out, so I took him down to Riverside Surgery.
"When we arrived, Dr Dinsmore and Nurse Serena Sharkey were there on hand right away and Lukas was put on a nebuliser.
"The Dr said that if that didn't help, Lukas would have to go onto Altnagelvin. When they took him off the nebuliser they could see that he had a blood rash on his chin.
"At this point I feared that it might be meningitis. An ambulance arrived right away and Lukas was given oxygen on the way to Altnagelvin.
His condition did not improve and staff at Altnagelvin decided that she should go to theatre.
"That was the longest forty minutes of our lives," say Alanah.
"Bacterial Tracheitis was suspected and Lukas was then transferred to the intensive care unit of the Royal in Belfast," said Alanah.
Lukas went on to spend nine days in intensive care in the Royal. Bacterial Tracheitis was eventually diagnosed. To Alanah's delight, Lukas was released from hospital on August 14 – the day of his fourth birthday.
"If the staff at Riverside Surgery had not have acted so quickly that day of August 5, I'd hate to think what could've happened.
"We owe them a great deal for getting Lukas to Derry so fast and so comfortably considering his condition. We now have him back at home and the support we've received from family and friends has been just amazing.
"I think there were candles being lit in every chapel in the country. Santa now needs to bring me a new extension because everybody has been calling to the house with toys for Lukas.
"I'd also like to thank Martin Brolly and all at St Vincent De Paul for their kind generosity," said Alanah.
