Brave Scots tot with epilepsy gives birthday money to help other sick kids
Rudi Bell was hospitalised with extreme seizures earlier this year but for his fourth birthday he asked his pals to "bring pennies" for charity instead of presents
A kindhearted wee boy who has been battling devastating epilepsy is fundraising to “help all the other boys and girls who don’t feel very well”.
Little Rudi Bell - who took his first seizure on April 30 this year while on a day out with his mum and big sister, Rosie, seven - has raised over £1500.
The total has amazed the four-year-old’s parents Sam, 31, and Ross, 34, who at one stage thought they would lose their precious son.
They have been told if his health begins to dip they should get him to hospital for intravenous antibiotics to avoid his seizures becoming as bad as they were in April.
The family hope as her grows his antibodies will stop attacking his own cells and his seizures will stop.
And as he recovers, little Rudi’s thoughts are for other children who are still in hospital.
On his birthday last week Rudi asked his friends to not buy him gifts but instead bring some pennies for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity which provides accommodation for parents and entertainment for the young patients.
His parents then extended the invitation to their own friends via a just giving page and putting charity tins in local pubs, raising £1556.31 which Rudi handed over to the charity a few days ago.
Top news stories today
Describing his first seizure, Sam said: “He had been a bit under the weather that week, very tired and not eating a lot but it never amounted to anything.
“Then he started all these seizures which lasted for days.
“For 48 hours he had seizures. He would come out of one and then go straight back into another one.
“We had been at an outdoor inflatable fun day when he had his first one.
“It had been raining that day so I was going to take them to an indoor soft play instead but I thought I’d be the fun mum and take them to play outside.
“I’m so glad I did. If I had taken them to soft play I wouldn’t have seen him when he had a seizure.
“It was horrific. I don’t know what was going on. I had never witnessed a seizure.”
READ MORE: 'Subtle' symptoms of bowel cancer that are easily missed and how to spot themREAD MORE: Scots left unimpressed by Disneyland cast member's accent as Brave character MeridaWee Rudi was taken to Forth Valley Hospital before being shifted to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.
Sam explained: “They had to administer more heavy drugs as he continued to seize in the ambulance on the way to Glasgow. We were told if they couldn’t get it to stop he would have to be put in an induced coma.
“But they managed to get it to stop.
“He was in hospital eight days in total.
“There were times we thought we were going to lose our wee boy.”
And she added: “But he has recovered well. His left hand is not as strong as his right but to look at him you would never know what he had been through.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter.