Pandy’s son Adam Nicholas sadly died at just 18-years-old but there were some special people who helped her through it
Pandy’s son Adam Nicholas sadly died at just 18-years-old but there were some special people who helped her through it
A mum who’s son died at just 18-years-old described how a children’s hospice helped protect her son. Adam Nicholas had been under the care of Alder Hey Children’s Hospital for the majority of his younger years due to an immune deficiency.
However, his mum Pandy, from Wavertree, said his health began to worsen in his teenage years. Adam was later placed under end of life care at Claire House, Wirral, and sadly died on December 12, 2024.
As a thank you for the dedication of the hospice, the 52-year-old will be taking part in a half marathon joined by friends and family in a bid to raise £5,000 for a Butterfly Suite at Claire House. Pandy, who said her son was a huge Liverpool FC fan, told the ECHO how Adam’s health began to worsen at around 15-years-old.
She told the ECHO: “Adam always had an immune deficiency, he had that since he was six-months-old, so he was always under Alder Hey’s [care]. As he got older, when he was about 15, he started to have really really bad nosebleeds and when it became evident that his platelets had started to drop and basically everything that we were doing to support his platelets, unfortunately they just continued to drop and drop to a dangerous level.”
She added: “So his nosebleeds [meant] he would have to go into into Alder Hey and he’d have to have a platelets or a blood transfusion. It became apparent he needed a bone marrow transplant to cure that condition, aplastic anaemia, and also it was hoped that a bone marrow transplant would cure the immune deficiency as well, but unfortunately, that didn’t transpire.”
However, in the middle of 2024, Adam’s condition began to grow more severe, forcing him to be readmitted to Alder Hey. He was diagnosed with a rare form of Astrovirus, which manifested in his brain. This can cause encephalitis and meningitis in those with compromised immune systems.
She added: “We got him into Alder Hey in July 2024 and they were absolutely fantastic. He was in the HDU [High Dependency Unit] and they were fabulous with him, but unfortunately, they diagnosed him, along with Great Ormond Street, with Astrovirus.
“It was very rare the way that it manifested within Adam because it actually got into his brain and it had gone too far, he was making progress, but it had gone too far and it was discussed that we had to put him on end of life care, so he was then transferred in December to Claire House.”
Looking back to his time spent in Claire House over a year after her son tragically died, Pandy said she is still blown away by the close attention paid to Adam during their time spent in the hospice.
She said: “Claire House care for terminally ill children, I mean and everybody knows that, but unless you’re under their services you don’t realise the broad spectrum of care they actually do. Adam’s bedroom was all decorated with everything that Adam loved, including Liverpool Football Club and Ant and Dec and [his room] was all done like a jungle.
“The room was all decorated to what Adam loved, he loved all of his football, but he absolutely loved Rick Astley, I think that came from pressure from me. So they really go out of their way to make everything as homely as possible.”
She added: “The care and the dedication of the nurses there, it’s just fabulous, but when when your child actually passes away the level of care that they give to the deceased is amazing.
“Everything is decorated to that person’s [taste] and then they go through everything, all the procedures of the paperwork for getting the death certificate, so they go through all that with you and then they’re there to support you as well.
“They know when you’ve got family and friends coming in to see your loved one, they’re there with drinks and sandwiches and they come in and talk to you of a night because you stay there 24/7.
“So as I say, they almost put you in a little bubble, you know that protects you from that harshness which you know is going to come eventually, but it’s just amazing the way they do it, they really do just cover and protect you.”
In an attempt to try and repay some of her gratitude to the team who cared for Adam during his final days, she is set to join his friends and other family members in taking part in the annual Liverpool Half Marathon.
She said: “It’s literally all of Adam’s family and friends taking part, and there’s a couple of people who have had hip and knee replacements, so they will be walking and the rest of us will be running. In all, there’s 20 to 25 of us taking part and we’re all in training at the moment. We’ll all finish!”
As she looks ahead to the event in a couple of months time, Pandy said that she is overwhelmed by the support of those taking part alongside her. She said: “It makes me so proud and it just reminds me of just how much everybody loved him.”
She added: “We literally only set up the Claire House link two days ago and I think we are already over £1,000, so anything that people can give is amazing. We want to raise up to £5,000 which is the approximate to run the butterfly suite for month.”
You can donate to Pandy’s Just Giving page for Claire House Children’s Hospice here.