South Sinai Hospital

Where to start?

The non-divers, Sal and I, set off this morning for a glass bottom boat and parasailing sort of day, leaving the divers; Jamie, Tom and Grace to take a boat to the reef to complete the last two dives of their PADI course - meaning that, at the grand old age of 11 and 13, they would be fully qualified SCUBA divers.

Cool, eh?

Only it didn't turn out that way.

Grace was first in the water and had a really long dive while Tom practised some safety skills on the boat. Finally the Dive Master proclaimed him ready to dive and he entered the water. Swimming away from the boat, behind the DM and in front of Jamie, he suddenly turned and said to his dad 'I can't breathe'. Nerves and fear being a big part of diving, Jamie urged him to keep calm and carry on, but it quickly became apparent that Tom could not breathe. His lips started to swell and Jamie guessed he might be having an allergic reaction - to what we don't know. Luckily, or unluckily, we have already have one child with food allergies and we always carry Piriton and an Epipen. Jamie had actually packed two Epipens this trip .. Just in case.

Yelling to the DM to stop the dive and get Tom back to the boat, simultaneously shouting at Grace to get the medical kit, Jamie somehow managed to get three capfuls of anti-histamine into Tom while he was still in the water. In normal circumstances ie. in a mild allergic reaction, the Piriton acts quickly and breathing becomes easier and the side effects of the reaction subside. Not this time.

Tom's lips were swelling, his breathing became more laboured and his hand and leg started to spasm as a result of the lack of oxygen. Jamie knew he had to use the Epipen to quickly administer a massive jolt of adrenaline. Trying to read the tiny instructions, in a panic, on a rocking boat, without his glasses, he got the cap off and fired the first injection into Tom's thigh. The kick-back from the needle puncturing the flesh is extreme and frightening, and the injection did not discharge the full dose. He had to use the second pen. This time the full dose was released into Tom's thigh.

Still the spasm in Tom's hand and leg had not subsided and oxygen was needed. Luckily, so luckily, they were on a dive boat where the one thing they have is plenty of air. Jamie fitted a regulator over Tom's mouth and kept it pressed there, releasing oxygen, until finally his breathing started to slow and become more even.

Next: getting back to shore. When, finally, the DM had understood the urgency of the situation, the dive was abandoned and someone organised an ambulance to meet the dive boat and Tom, Grace and Jamie at shore. Red lights and sirens flashing, Tom was taken to South Sinai Hospital where he was hooked up to oxygen in ICU. The fabulous ICU doctor organised an MRI scan, in case it was a fit or seizure and not an allergic reaction and here we are now. Waiting for results.

Tom is sleeping now. Jamie has taken the girls back to the hotel, having filled in the paperwork, talked to the insurance company, organised finances and saved our son's life. The doctor said Tom probably could have, would have died, without oxygen, without adrenaline, without his dad.

I'll stay with Tom now, for as long as it takes for the doctors to be happy that he's ok. He looks perfect to me - he always does.

Thanks to his dad.