A Bury St Edmunds family has thanked the charity that gave them a "home from home" while their son received life-saving hospital care.

In January, Dan and Katie Smailes' two-year-old son Louis fell critically ill with pneumonia, sepsis and a collapsed lung, and was rushed from West Suffolk Hospital in Bury to the Royal London Hospital, where he was treated on the paediatric intensive care unit.

For the 13 days Louis was in hospital, his parents were given a free place to stay at Stevenson House, run by The Sick Children’s Trust and just minutes from the ward.

Dan and Katie Smailes with children Louis and MadeleineDan and Katie Smailes with children Louis and Madeleine (Image: Smailes Family)

To give back to the charity, the couple launched a fundraising page and organised several events raising an impressive £20,000 for The Sick Children’s Trust - enough to sponsor two rooms at Stevenson House for an entire year.

The couple have raised over £37,000, with the PaNDR paediatric ambulance service - which transferred Louis from Bury St Edmunds to London - set to receive more than £17,000.

Mrs Smailes said: "The Sick Children’s Trust means so much to us, they really came to our rescue when Louis was transferred to a hospital such a long way from our own home. It really was one less thing for us to worry about.

"He might not even be here without PaNDR, and The Sick Children’s Trust kept us close to him when he needed us most, which meant the world.”

The Smailes familyThe Smailes family (Image: Smailes family)

Mr Smailes said: “Louis was in a very bad way, it was touch and go whether or not he would pull through. We were told that if we had taken him in a day later he wouldn’t be here today.

“It was a horrible situation to be in, but we tried to show positivity throughout. Even the nurses in intensive care at the Royal London commented about how upbeat we were, but that was because we didn’t want to scare Louis. We wanted to stay strong for him.”

The Sick Children’s Trust approached the couple after their arrival in London to offer them a place to sleep.

Mr Smailes said: "It was such a weight off our minds and I’m not sure what we would have done without it. We might have had to sleep in the car, or found a hotel which obviously would have cost a lot of money." 

After 13 days of treatment, Louis was transferred to a specialist heart and lung centre at the Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, where he spent a further four days before being discharged. 

Mrs Smailes said: “To look at him know you’d never know how poorly he was, or that it happened at all. He’s made such an amazing recovery, and we are so thankful."