Former TOWIE star Lucy Mecklenburgh has opened up about experiencing “every parent’s worst nightmare” when she found her 18-month-old son Roman “blue” in his cot.
Sharing a photograph of Roman in hospital on Instagram, Lucy, who shares Roman with partner Ryan Thomas, told her followers, “Just over a week ago I found Roman blue in his cot - probably every parent's worst nightmare.
"Without going into too much detail it ended up with Roman being transferred to St Mary's London intensive care being put on a ventilator.
"Thankfully we are now all home and Roman is back to his cheeky self."
She said she was "eternally grateful" to the ambulance service, Basildon hospital, St Mary's hospital, and the Cosmic charity - which cares for babies and young children in intensive care. She then assured her followers that she will be doing all that she can to raise money and awareness for the charities, including helping with the garden at Basildon hospital and making a personal donation.
CHECK OUT: the TOWIE babies and their famous parents
TOWIE babies slider
Amy Childs
The first of the really big names to come from TOWIE, Amy quit the show in 2011 and welcomed her first daughter, Polly, in 2017. She also has a son from a different relationship who she's kept out of the limelight, but accidentally revealed his name was Ritchie in an interview.
Georgina Cleverly
Georgina Cleverley – née Dorset – was only on the show for two series and went on to have a two sons with her footballer hubby Tom, who she keeps off social media.
Sam Faiers
Sam is mum to daughter Rosie and a son called Paul, who she named after her husband, also called Paul. "We always wanted him to be named Paul after his dad," she said."It's traditional and we didn't have any other names on the list, so he's Paul, and his middle name is Tony after Paul's brother, his Uncle Tony."She's made a household name for herself and her family with her hit reality show, The Mummy Diaries.
Billy Faiers
Sam's lookalike big sister Billie is also a mum to two kids of her own, sharing daughter Nelly (five) and son Arthur (three) with her husband Greg Shepherd.
Kirk Norcross
Despite being TOWIE's original bad boy, Kirk has overhauled his image in the last few years to be the ultimate family man. He's dad to son Harry, three, and daughter Violett, four - although Violett doesn't feature on his Instagram after her mum made it clear she didn't want her in the public eye.
Maria Fowler
Maria is mum to four-year-old Evie who she shares with husband Kelvin Batey, and earlier this year revealed on Instagram that they were preparing to welcome baby number two.Back in 2018, Maria revealed she had suffered a miscarriage, writing on Instagram, "I feel silly even referring to it as a baby as we were really early in the pregnancy and had not yet had a scan but I did grieve and I did feel like I had lost something very special."I feel it is such a cruel twist of fate to get such happy news and then have it taken away. Just like that. No explanation."
Chloe Sims
Chloe was already a mum when she joined the cast of TOWIE back in 2011. Her daughter Madison is now 15, and largely stays out of the public eye, although last year Chloe finally revealed Madison's dad was still a close pal, posting a picture to Instagram and writing, "So lots of people have always been interested in who is Maddie's dad, well, here he is..."I was 18, he was 24... all you nosy f--ckers who wanted to know, here he is!"
Dan Osborne
TOWIE lothario Dan Osborne already had a son, Teddy, with ex Megan Tomlin when he joined TOWIE. After he was booted in 2015, Dan married EastEnders star Jaqueline Jossa and they have two daughters together, Mia and Ella.
Lucy Mecklenburgh
Lucy Mecklenburgh quit TOWIE all the way back in 2013 and since then has had success as an influencer and fitness guru. In 2020 she welcomed her first child with her fiancé, Corrie actor Ryan Thomas, a son they named Roman.
Lydia Bright
How cute is this? Long-term best pals Lucy and Lydia were both pregnant at the same time and gave birth just weeks apart. Lydia is going it alone as a single mother to baby Loretta, after splitting with Loretta's dad Lee Cronin during her pregnancy.
Ferne McCann
One of TOWIE's most high profile mums, Ferne McCann welcomed her daughter Sunday in 2017following a difficult few months. Shortly before announcing her pregnancy Ferne's boyfriend Arthur Collins was arrested and charged with an acid attack in an East London club that left two victims blind. And weeks before Sunday was born he was sentenced to 20 years.
Mario Falcone
TOWIE OG Mario left the show after 15 series, and in 2018 welcomed a son, Parker Jax,with his fiancée Becky Meisner.
Chloe Lewis
Chloe quit the show in 2019 after revealing she'd found herself a new relationship and it wasn't long before she and new man Danny Flasher announced they were expecting. They welcomed a healthy baby boy, Beau Lewis, in October 2019.
Jake Hall
Meanwhile, Chloe's TOWIE boyfriend Jake Hall went on to have a family of his own. Despite an at times messy relationshipwith Real Housewives of Cheshire's Misse Beqiri, the couple welcomed a daughter in 2018, who they named River.
Billi Mucklow
Billi Mucklow, who left TOWIE in 2013, must certainly have her hands full with her huge blended family with footballer fiancé Andy Carroll. The couple are raising Andy's kids from a previous relationship, Lucas and Emilie, and have two of their own together, Arlo and Wolf. In early 2020 they announced they were expecting AGAIN. Phew.
Danielle Armstrong
Danielle Armstrong welcomed her first child with long-term pal Tom Edney in May 2020 after being "pregnant forever" and begging fans for tips on inducing labour. She took to Instagram to update followers on the birth, writing, "My world Is complete ud83dudc76ud83cudffcud83dudc95 Orla Mae Edney Born May 26th at 16:30pm, weighing a healthy 8Ibs11".
Lauren Pope
Lauren quit TOWIE in 2019 after a staggering nine years on the show. In July 2020, she and her boyfriend welcome a little girl called Raine Anais Keterman.
Sam Mucklow and Shelby Tribble
After a whopping three-day labour, Sam and Shelby welcomed their first child, a boy, in November 2020. "Shelby and our beautiful baby boy are both well and healthy," he wrote on Instagram. "Shelby didn't have a straightforward labour so she has been in hospital for five days. She has been an absolute soldier."
Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet
TOWIE's power couple Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet welcomed their baby boy Brody on 5th May, 2021. They even reveal that "Mallet" is not actually Tommy's surname, when they introduced baby as Brody Fordham.
Lauren Goodger
After years of dreaming of being a mum, Lauren finally welcomed her first child, a daughter called Larose, In July 2021. Sadly when Larose was just a couple of months old, Lauren split from the baby's dad Charles Drury, but is smashing being a single mum.
WATCH: Ferne McCann on breaking up with her ex-boyfriend and her heartbreak plan | First Time Mum Secrets
Lucy added, “Although mentally we as a family may never fully recover, we feel extremely blessed to have our special boy home in our arms and it has truly opened our eyes to all the hardworking superheroes working in our hospitals who didcate their lives to helping others and how extremely lucky we are to have these incredible medical services free for us all in the UK.
“Thank you NHS and all the charties that support the NHS.”
The post was quickly flooded with comments from her friends and followers who wished her well.
“Oh darling. Sending you love as you try to process the trauma you’ve all been through, and find ways to feel safe again! X," said one follower.
Kate Ferdinand wrote, “Oh my gosh. Lots of love to you all, so glad your home ❤️," and Georgia Kousoulou added, “❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ sending you all the love so glad your home x."
Lucy then updated her followers about how Roman is doing back at home on Instagram stories, sharing a snap of him cuddling a toy bunny with the caption, "Thank you for all your lovely messages this day 3 at home and we are just enjoying lots of special family time with our perfect boy 💛"
READ MORE news
Lucy Mecklenburgh on her relationship: ‘Having a lockdown baby has brought us closer together’
The terrifying meaning behind the phrase 'back to school necklace'
Should new mums be more sensitive when sharing their experiences?
Former Coronation Street actor Ryan, who is also dad to 12-year-old daughter Scarlett with former co-star Tina O'Brien, also expressed his thanks to the NHS with his own picture of himself hugging Roman during his hospital stay.
"No words can explain how grateful we are to have our little boy home safe after spending nearly a week in intensive care," he said on Instagram.
"As parents it's been one of the scariest times of our lives but with thanks to our amazing doctors & nurses we have king Roman back playing, smiling & more importantly eating, i would like to thank the @nhs and also @cosmic_charity who have been unbelievable."