“They did absolutely everything they could but…”: Heartbreak as ‘full of life’ boy, 2, p:ɑsses away suddenly after having ‘flu-like’ symptσms

The family are now warning others to look out for similar symptoms

A HEARTBROKEN family have paid tribute to their two-year-old boy who suddenly passed away just before his birthday.

Hudson Martin was weeks away from turning three when he collapsed and died from a flu-like illness.

The young boy from Knowle, Bristol, had been diagnosed with Kawasaki disease and developed symptoms since just seven months old.

Hudson’s dad, Damien, said: “You’d never know anything was wrong from pictures or videos.

“He bounced off everything. He loved climbing, dancing, music, he was a proper daredevil.”

His mum, Natalie, said: “He wanted to do everything himself – he climbed the highest slides, bounced constantly, and had the biggest personality. He was just full of life.”

Emergency services were called to the family home on January 8, after Hudson collapsed on the stairs.

Despite paramedics and specialist teams working for more than an house to restart his heart, the boy sadly passed away.

“They did absolutely everything they could,” Damien said. “His heart just wouldn’t come back.”

The grieving family have began to raise awareness of Kawasaki disease and its symptoms, altering families of the warning signs.

The parents added: “People should push for it, if parents can see the symptoms, and be more aware of what to look for, they can question professionals a little bit more.

“It’s rare and sometimes professionals just don’t know enough about it.”

The family have set up a GoFundMe page to cover Hudson’s funeral costs and donate the remaining money to charities that support others affected by Kawasaki disease.

The family have already received more than £9,000 in donations.

As a baby, Hudson was taken to the GP when he became poorly, where the doctors initially considered the case to be measles.

The parents said that there is no test to diagnose Kawasaki disease and that doctors have to first rule out other conditions before diagnosing someone with Kawasaki.

The 40-year-old dad said: “”He was deteriorating day by day [before he was first diagnosed], and pretty much ended up laying in bed, not moving.

“All they were doing was taking blood, doing tests, that’s all they could do.”

Doctors explained to the family at the time that Kawasaki diseases is often diagnosed after five days of persistent fever.

Since Hudson only had three days of fever and showing almost all other symptoms of the disease, treatment was delayed.

“It took someone coming in and saying, ‘He’s got all the symptoms, why hasn’t he been treated for Kawasaki disease?’ the 39-year-old mum said.

But despite being given treatment twice, which began to show show improvement in the young boys behaviour, he still had high blood results.

Damien said: “His numbers weren’t coming back down to where they should be, and even though he was up showing signs that he was well, he was waking up, he was moving around and he started eating, the doctors every day kept coming in with bad news and saying there was nothing they could do, his numbers aren’t moving.

“They were basically preparing us and saying he was not going to make it.”

Hudson remained in hospital for around five weeks up until October 2024, with the disease causing severe damage to his coronary arteries.

Hudson was put under the care of specialist cardiology teams and although a heart transplant was discussed, he was not eligible due to his heart muscle functioning normally.

The two-year-old’s body was taken to Southampton for a post-mortem examination, but his parents were told it could take up to a year to receive full results.