Meet Perth’s bravest young battler. Robbie Buchan’s incredible fight against Meningococcal B septicaemia.

His parents want to campaign for change. They want the government to cover the cost of Meningococcal B vaccines.

They say it is the only way to battle this disease.

Speaking to Today Tonight Robbie’s parents Iain and Desiree share their story.

Little Robbie had been unwell but doctor’s told them he had possibly just picked up a bug from a recent holiday.

Desiree got up that evening to cover her little man with his blanket when she noticed 3 little spots on his back.

She rushed him to hospital, and within 20 mins his entire body was covered.

On the everyday hero page his parents write – At the age of 5 and ½ months old our beautiful son, Robbie contracted Meningococcal B septicaemia. As a result of this he has had amputations on all four of his limbs.

This consists of bilateral through the knee, below the elbow on his left arm and through his upper right arm.

When Robbie was initially admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth , we were told by the Intensive Care Unit consultants that if he made through to 48 hrs he would have only a 50% chance of survival however we may still need to prepare ourselves to say goodbye to our son.
Our entire life was being destroyed day by day by this evil disease.

Robbie survived and has fought incredibly hard for the life he has today. Whilst in ICU he was attached to a ventilator as he could not breathe for himself and was sedated into an induced coma so he would not feel the pain of the destruction the meningococcal had caused to his little body.

Robbie was in the intensive care unit for 2 months before he was well enough to be transferred onto the Burns ward under the care of former Australian of the Year, Dr Fiona Wood.

80% of Robbie’s body was covered in necrotic tissue that required daily dressings in order to minimise the risk of infection until the amputation surgery occurred. Robbie endured these daily dressing changes for over a year before the surgery and as a result Robbie has the length on his limbs he otherwise would not, if the amputations occurred when he was first admitted.

The longest recorded case study of waiting in the world before amputations have occurred in meningococcal survivors is 40 days. Robbie’s amputations occurred after one year. In the process of waiting and learning from Robbie and his ability to heal himself, he has gained length and has changed the medical world for the good as the processes used for the first time, to gain length of Robbie’s limbs will now be used to help other survivors.

We wish little Robbie all the best.
You can donate to the family HERE.

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Image via Everyday Hero