An Aberaeron boy is learning to walk again thanks to the amazing work of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital.

In summer 2024 Lewis, six, started getting leg pain whilst playing football.

His GP put it down to growing pains but several weeks later during football his mum noticed he was “shuffling”.

More tests failed to flag anything, but just weeks later Lewis woke up unable to walk at all.

After an MRI and lumbar puncture at Glangwili Hospital, he was blue-lighted to Noah’s Ark in Cardiff where he was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition - Guillian-Barré Syndrome (GBS).

His mum Liz said: “It looked like he wasn’t running properly, it wasn’t normal for him.

“It was almost like he was taking the mick out of how he normally ran or like he was shuffling.

“Then one day, Lewis just completely lost the ability to walk.

“We went into a complete panic.”

GBS is a serious neurological disorder that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system, causing muscle weakness, tingling, and can result in paralysis.

At Noah’s Ark, Lewis continued to deteriorate rapidly.

He was put on infusions which slowed the progress of GBS and stopped it from affecting his upper body - he then spent four weeks there learning to walk again.

He was able to go home in November but after two short weeks, he couldn’t walk again.

The condition accelerated far quicker, also affecting his upper body and causing him to cough and have difficulty eating.

His parents noticed that Lewis was taking long deep breaths, struggling to breathe.

He was given IVIG treatment which gave Lewis healthy antibodies to fight the GBS antibodies that were damaging his nerves - this stopped the deterioration, but he wasn’t getting any better.

Lewis was put on another treatment involving eight-hour steroid infusions every week for five weeks, meaning Lewis couldn’t go home for Christmas.

Liz said: “Lewis has now been an inpatient at Noah’s Ark for 12 weeks.

“The hardest part of it all is that our family is separated.

“Our eight-year-old daughter, Libby, is in school and my husband and I are both self-employed so he’s had to return to work.

“Lewis is surprisingly still in good spirits and despite the fact that he still has no movement in his legs and reduced movement in his arms and chest, the feeling is starting to return to his lower body.

“He’s working so hard in physio and though there may be a long road ahead, we’ll get there.

“The music therapy and counselling provided by the charity are also helping to build back his confidence and personality.

“Lewis enjoys music therapy so much and loves to express himself with the keyboard.

“He loves to play games with Bechan, the ward counsellor.

He’s able to be himself with them and they’ve made him feel listened to which is so important.”

Donations paid for the music therapy and counselling for Lewis, as well as the pull-down beds for his parents - donate on their website.