Mum’s warning as Stoke City fan, 9, rushed to hospital after complaining of headache

A mum is urging parents to be aware of the potentially deadly consequences of Strep A after her son was rushed to hospital with a headache. Stoke City fan Henri Brammer, nine, began had been complaining of a headache for two days in the run up to Christmas.

Mum Carly initially put this down to festive excitement but after complaining of eye pain and seeming lethargic, he was taken to the Royal Stoke University Hospital on December 19.

Doctors told the family that Gladstone Primary Academy pupil Henri was suffering from a viral infection and were about to discharge him when mum Carly demanded scans be done. The next day, a CT scan showed young Henri had a 10cm ball of pus on his brain and he was rushed by ambulance to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.

That same day, the schoolboy, from Lightwood, underwent neurosurgery for five hours to have his brain drained. However, just one week later he was back in theatre to have it re-drained after it had filled again.

And the same happened again a week later, meaning brave Henri had three surgical procedures in just three weeks, missing out on Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Now, after making a full recovery, brave Henri has raised £9,000 towards a £10,000 target for Alder Hey to thank the doctors who saved his life. Carly told the ECHO : “He was perfectly healthy, he wasn’t ill except for the headache.

“They told us he’d had a sinus infection which had caused Strep A and then spread and caused empyema of the brain. The pus was dangerous where it was.

“He was in Alder Hey for a month until January 17 so he missed Christmas at home with his siblings. We’ve been back to Alder Hey a few times and it’s like he never had anything wrong. He’s now back in school full time and is back to football, back on full form.

“We were told if we hadn’t taken him to A&E on the 19th, he wouldn’t be here. His brain would’ve shut down and he’d have gone to bed and just not woken up.”