A mother-of-four whose son had to be resuscitated and airlifted to hospital has opened up on the "very stressful week" their family endured.
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Amy Bradley first noticed something wrong with her 15-month-old boy Zion Kingi on September 22. She took him to their GP who believed the cause was a yet-to-be diagnosed case of type 1 diabetes.
They were rushed to Orange Hospital where doctors all but confirmed this to be the case.
"They figured it out pretty quick," Ms Bradley said.
That same night Zion was airlifted to Sydney Children's Hospital where he was officially diagnosed. Ms Bradley, along with her two-week-old baby were then flown down the following morning and would remain in Sydney for the next seven days.
"It was a very long week," she said.
"Zion was really sick for the first couple of days which was tough, but once they got on top of the insulin he was missing from his body, he picked up."
After doctors got Zion's condition under control, a new set of challenges presented themselves.
That was the education that came with having a young, diabetic child.
"It was more about making sure he was 100 per cent and lots of education for me until they could send us back to Orange," Ms Bradley added.
"Life's changed a lot. There's a lot we have to adjust to now. We have to remember to give insulin doses and figure out how much to give him. It's going to take a while to get on top of it, but I'm sure we'll get there."
Although the week was stressful, Ms Bradley came out of it thankful for all the support she received.
"I think we got really lucky," she said.
"From the second we stepped into the doctor's office in Orange to when we got discharged, everybody was incredible.
"Everyone was so nice and helpful with all of my kids. When I was getting all the information, they were so patient, they took their time and didn't go past something until they knew I understood what they were talking about."
On top of the help she received from doctors and nurses, Ms Bradley wanted to say a special thank you to the volunteer organisation Little Wings, who picked her family up from the hospital in Sydney and gave them safe passage home.
"They picked us up in their little fancy van that they have and drove us to the airport and the pilot came and picked us up and flew us to Orange," she added.
"It was actually really awesome because we had no way to get home otherwise.
"While it wasn't something we wanted to be experiencing, given the circumstances it was actually a really good experience."
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