A THURROCK mum has detailed the trauma her son has gone through in the first years of his life as she seeks to highlight a charity's awareness week which begins today (Monday, 15 March).

TOFS (Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula Support) is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of all who were born with the TOF condition.

Imagine being unable to swallow anything? Imagine your child being born unable to swallow? It's a scary thought caused by congenital conditions called oesophageal atresia and/or tracheo-oesophageal fistula, or OA/TOF for short.

It's a reality for the parents of one in every 3,500 babies born annually in the UK.

Four years ago, Anna Hallett's son, Archie was born naturally but six weeks premature at Basildon & Thurrock Hospital Hospital. After being told at a 29 week growth scan that he was a 'textbook baby,' she didn't expect her son to be born unable to breathe or swallow for himself.

Major surgery and specialised treatment at The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel was essential for his survival and within four hours of birth he was on his way to London with ANTS.

While some children born with these conditions experience relatively few problems (after the surgery), some are not so fortunate and can undergo numerous additional procedures throughout their childhood and into adulthood.

At seven months old, Anna, from Orsett, had to give Archie CPR as he stopped breathing when crying. After another fie long weeks in hospital and a CT scan later, they found Archie had severe tracheomalacia and he was transferred to Great Ormond Street for emergency cardiac surgery, an aortopexy which pinned his trachea/windpipe to his sternum/breast bone. This has transformed Archie's life and those supporting him for the better.

Life-long follow up is absolutely essential.

The journey can be an unpredictable one for all concerned and this is where the charity [L] https://www.tofs.org.uk/home.aspx [L+]TOFs comes in.

The charity means so much to Anna and has provided so much support that she is now a TOF Local Contact (TLC) for the charity, providing voluntary support for parents in Essex and Kent who have children born with TOF/OA & adults living with TOF.

TOFS 2021 Awareness Week highlights how the illness can affect the mental health both of the child and adult born with the condition as well as their parents.

Anna says: "Imagine the trauma of feeding your child for the first time, only for them to choke and turn blue and be taken away by the medical team, desperately trying to help the newborn?

"This is followed by at least one operation in the first week of life, time in ICU and years of negotiating their child's feeding, sleeping and health difficulties.

"Some parents are left with PTSD because of their experiences around birth and depression, anxiety and isolation from the difficulties of raising a child with chronic health problems.

"Archie was NG tube fed and had a CPAP machine to help him breathe for the first six months of life. He has been on anti-reflux medication all of his life as reflux is a common for TOF children.

"Lots of choking episodes, 999 calls, hospital admissions and by encouraging Archie to chew thoroughly, this has enabled him to begin to understand his condition. Some children live with food aversion and long-term eating issues due to their condition."

Anna hopes that the awareness week will raise the profile of the charity, enabling it to do more to help youngsters like Archie and their families.

You can find out more about the charity and the awareness week [L] https://www.tofs.org.uk/news/2021/03/2021-tofs-awareness-week-15-21-march.aspx[L+]here[.l}

Anna concluded: "We are fortunate that Archie now lives a reasonably 'normal' life as a four year old we are preparing, as much as they can during the pandemic, for him to start school in September. We remain forever grateful to TOFS and to everyone for tall the medical and moral support we have received."