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'Healthy' boy, 3, died just 48 hours after complaining of tummy ache
Jude Chinn, 3, died after a short battle in hospital last summer (Picture: BPM Media)
A grieving mother has told how her little boy died just 48 hours after complaining of a tummy ache.
Jude Chinn was described as a 'happy, healthy, smiley, wonderful, caring little boy' before he suddenly passed away last summer.
The three-year-old was taken to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Somerset, after a night of stomach pains and vomiting.
Scans revealed Jude's bowel had become twisted and, despite undergoing emergency surgery and further treatment at Bristol Children's Hospital, doctors were unable to save him and he died on June 5.
Mum Laura Chinn said: 'He was fine, had no underlying health conditions or anything, then went to bed having just Facetimed his grandad and uncle.
'An hour later he was complaining of a tummy ache and was sick throughout the night.
'In the morning he was quite unresponsive, drifting in and out. We rang for help and he was rushed into Musgrove Park hospital where they tried to assess what was going on.'
She added: 'Initially they thought it was diabetes until they scanned his abdomen and ruled that out.
Parents Laura and Richard Chinn pictured together with their children. They are now fundraising for the hospital that looked after Jude (Picture: BPM Media)
'They found there was loads of fluid in there that shouldn't be there and rushed him into surgery where they had to cut out part of his bowel as it had died off.
'They did the surgery at Musgrove, before sending him to Bristol Children's Hospital where he received the care that he needed.
'Unfortunately, he was fighting for his life for 24 hours on life support and ventilators before he slipped away. At that point, our world fell apart.'
The family described the support they received from the children's hospital as incredible.
Laura added: 'We were just blown away by the care and compassion shown from every single member of staff.
'It was the worst time of our lives, but each member of staff came in with such positivity and energy, it gave us hope that everything would be normal and alright. That is what inspired us to want to give back.'
Jude's dad Richard Chinn added: 'I said to the staff as we were leaving that we're going to raise as much money as possible because anybody in our situation deserves that.'
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That was when the idea of a charity cycle for Jude came around. A team of 18 people are planning to complete the 900-mile trip from John O'Groats to Land's End in just nine days in his memory.
This averages 100 miles a day, and they hope that family and friends can surround them at the finishing line.
Richard said: 'We wanted to do something that would be hard work, really difficult and take a lot of dedication, not fun.
'Three or four of us came up with the idea to cycle from John O' Groats to Land's End, and it caught fire from there.
'We set up an initial target of £1,250 and we changed it to £10,000 and hit that within 48 hours. £20,000 was hit by New Year's Eve.
'We don't have a target in mind, we just want to keep raising as much money as possible.'
'It goes a long way to helping other families who are in our situation to receive great care and support in the hospital and after as well.' As of Monday, February 8, the JustGiving page has raised more than £46,500 from 2,795 supporters.
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