In April 2018 I was asked to urgently pray for two young children – Bobbie Pye (aged 2) and her younger brother Archie (1). Since then, the Pye family have been through a traumatic journey in a harrowing fight against what we now know to be meningitis. People have been praying for Bobbie from all over the world via various prayer groups and especially in the Blackburn community in Lancashire, England where the family live. This is the story of the remarkable little girl as told to me by her mum, Megan.
On the morning of 27thApril 2018 Bobbie was feeling unwell, with a high temperature and vomiting. Archie also looked poorly. As it was Friday I wanted to get them both checked over and arranged an appointment for that afternoon. Around the time of the appointment Bobbie was so sick I had to change the time to later in the day.
When we left the house there was little change, but on arriving at the GP’s surgery, Bobbie had started with a rash. Everything from then on happened in a blur. The quick action from the GP to alert the ambulance was crucial and the paramedics’ administered her first antibiotic. If we had stuck to the original appointment the rash would not have been evident and the outcome would have been so much worse.
We were whisked to the nearest available hospital where a team of consultants took over Bobbie’s care, inserting drips, taking bloods and monitoring her SATS. But before our eyes, bruises were appearing all over her tiny body. In no time at all she was unrecognizable. Archie was also monitored closely but he was not showing the same critical symptoms.
The doctors had to sedate Bobbie as she was struggling to breathe and we were informed that she needed specialist care, but the nearest bed available was in Stoke on Trent. Both Bobbie’s daddy and I went with her, while my mother and sister stayed at Blackburn Hospital with Archie, who after antibiotic treatment made a complete recovery.
On arrival in Stoke Bobbie was in a critical condition and upon meeting the consultant for the first time, she confirmed that the first 90 hours would be crucial. From then on our lives went from high to drastically low within the blink of an eye. We were devastated, scared and emotional wrecks.
To watch your child surrounded by banks of machines and not be able to hold her is beyond heartbreaking. I am so grateful to all the people who donate blood as Bobbie had countless transfusions.
She survived the 90 hours, but day by day her hands and feet were changing colour, going through shades of grey to black within the first day. This is because her body was centralizing the blood flow to her torso to keep her vital organs functioning.
In total Bobbie was in PICU for 12 days in an induced coma and a further week once off sedation. All through this stage she was classed as purple butterfly (end of life).
Bobbie was visited daily by the plastic surgeons as they monitored her limbs. Originally we were informed she would be losing fingers and toes but this diagnosis worsened on an almost daily basis as her condition deteriorated. Also with all this, Bobbie had kidney failure and had to have dialysis for over a month; each time they tried to take her off, her blood pressure would fall.
Bobbie was transferred to the PICU at Manchester Children’s Hospital on 8th May, still as a purple butterfly, as they felt they had the best renal team there. Slowly she was weaned off the dialysis, but Bobbie is going to need a kidney transplant at some point in the near future.
When Bobbie left the PICU, as she slowly started to respond, she was moved to the burns unit where she spent the next 10 weeks undergoing weekly trips to theatre for dressing changes and debridement.
It was here; on 20thMay she had her first major operation where her right fingers, left arm and right lower leg had to be removed. On the 22nd May she went back to theatre for the removal of her left lower leg. In total Bobbie spent thee months in hospital at both Stoke and Manchester before being discharged to specialist reality centre for rehab in terms of prosthetic therapy and physiotherapy.
Since leaving Manchester Children’s Hospital Bobbie has been going to physiotherapy, learning how to walk on her knees while waiting to be measured for prosthetic legs. She is coping the best way she knows how and has amazing support from her family and the wider community where we live.
Bobbie amazes all who meet her
Bobbie has astounded everyone she meets with her zest for life and her beaming smile. The journey she has taken so far has brought many difficulties and she faces many more operations as she grows, but I know she will not let this stop her enjoying life to the full.
I can’t begin to thank all the people, whose expert care brought Bobbie, back to us. From the quick thinking of the GP at the very start and the rapid response of the paramedics to give Bobbie that vital first antibiotic; to all the consultants, doctors, nurses and other medical professionals.
The nursing staff created a diary for Bobbie for when she is older to help her understand exactly what she went through. Now it’s time to move forward with God’s blessing and the support of family and friends.
In Mark 9:23, Jesus said, if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Bobbie’s story exemplifies the triumph of faith over fear’.
