THE father of a York baby who stopped breathing for 15 minutes when he was born has told the amazing story of his son’s recovery.

Doctors in the special care baby unit at York Hospital successfully battled to restart Kian Murray’s heart and save him from serious brain damage shortly after his birth.

However, newborn Kian was then rushed to Leeds General Infirmary, where he spent three days in a machine which lowers body temperature to slow down or halt damage to brain cells caused by a lack of oxygen.

The miracle treatment saw Kian make an apparent full recovery and his parents, Russ Murray and Gemma Nie, of the Leeman Road area, now want to raise money to buy York Hospital one of the machines, known as a Tecotherm, so other parents can avoid the trip to Leeds.

Talking of the anxious minutes after his son’s birth last May, Mr Murray, 25, said: “They never actually found out why he wasn’t breathing; they think it was the speed of the delivery.

“Gemma went into labour and he was pretty much born two hours later. It was a bit traumatic.

“We didn’t know if we were going to see him again.”

Mr Murray said doctors at York told him later it had been a “hard resuscitation” and Kian was sent to Leeds General Infirmary for the relatively new Tecotherm treatment to give him the best chance of avoiding brain damage.

“With him not having oxygen for 14 minutes there was a massive risk,” said Mr Murray.

“This treatment would give the brain time to heal.

“He got transferred to Leeds on a Sunday, and through to Wednesday he was being chilled.”

The couple contacted The Press after seeing a similar story in the national media, and said they wanted to highlight the skills of the teams at York and Leeds.

“That Wednesday was the first time Gemma could have a cuddle with him,” said Mr Murray.

Kian is still being closely monitored by doctors, but is now enjoying life at home with his parents, and, according to his dad, is doing fine and looks likely to soon start crawling.

“If it wasn’t for the treatment we might not have the son we have now,” he said. “The staff at York and Leeds have been brilliant.”

Gemma and Russ are now planning a fundraising event on May 29, Kian’s first birthday, to raise funds for a Tecotherm at York Hospital.

A spokesman for Leeds Teaching Hospitals said: “This is a relatively new, highly complex and specialised technique for which Leeds General Infirmary is a regional centre, providing care to newborn babies from across Yorkshire. We are delighted Kian was able to benefit from the equipment and the expertise of our staff.”

Sister Ann Elliott, ward sister for the special care baby unit at York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are very pleased to hear that Kian appears to be doing so well and very much hope that he continues in good health.”


Pioneering treatment protects babies

THE Tecotherm works by placing the baby on a mattress filled with chilled alcoholic gel. A machine closely monitors body temperature to keep it at about 33.5C.

The body’s usual core temperature is 37C.

In Kian’s case, he was also given morphine to ease the discomfort of being cooled for three days.

When doctors consider the treatment complete, the body temperature is raised slowly over several hours and the morphine levels reduced.

The idea is to slow or stop the destruction of brain cells, a process which can continue after the brain has been starved of oxygen, as in the case of Kian.