Rivan
A few years ago, Rivan became increasingly unwell after developing what initially appeared to be a viral infection. His mum, Lucy, knew something wasn’t right and took him to hospital, where an X-ray revealed he had both a collapsed lung and pneumonia.
Rivan spent two weeks receiving intravenous antibiotics at his local hospital but, despite treatment, his condition failed to improve. Further investigations revealed he had developed an empyema, a serious complication where pus from a chest infection collects in the space between the lung and chest wall. As his condition worsened, he was transferred by blue-light ambulance to Alder Hey for specialist care.
Soon after arriving, Rivan underwent emergency surgery to insert a chest drain. Rivan’s condition continued to deteriorate further, and he was transferred Alder Hey’s High Dependency Unit (HDU), where he received intensive monitoring and treatment.
Thankfully, after 48 hours in HDU, Rivan began to stabilise and was transferred back to the ward. He remained in hospital for a further two weeks, receiving intravenous antibiotics and recovering under the care of the Alder Hey team.
The experience was incredibly difficult for the whole family. While Rivan was in hospital, his parents had to divide their time between caring for him and looking after his baby sister, Orla, who was approaching her first Christmas.
Despite everything, Rivan’s condition improved steadily and he was eventually able to return home in time to celebrate Christmas with his family.
Since then, he has continued to go from strength to strength, and has grown into the happy, healthy little boy he was before his illness. He’s enjoying reception, where he started in September, and loves spending time with his sisters Orla and Morgan. His family say that if you met him today, you would never believe he was once so seriously ill.
Rivan’s mum, Lucy, said: “We thank our lucky stars every day that Alder Hey was able to save Rivan’s life. We could never put into words how thankful we are for the level of care Rivan received and how amazing Alder Hey is. We simply can’t thank the team enough.”