Schoolboy switches on village Christmas lights after suffering stroke

An eight-year-old boy who was struck down by a virus and later suffered a cardiac arrest and stroke, took time away from his treatment to switch on his village’s Christmas lights.

Lukas Thomson was diagnosed in 2017, when he became unwell with flu-type symptoms after a virus attacked his heart, resulting in myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle.

Soon afterwards the youngster went into cardiac arrest, requiring 30 minutes of CPR, before being placed on an ECMO (heart and lung bypass) machine which saved his life.

During his two weeks in ICU his family received the devastating news that Lukas had suffered a stroke following the cardiac arrest.

Four months followed in a neuro-rehabilitation ward, where the Ednam Primary School pupil has worked tirelessly on his recovery and can now stand, and walk, with little assistance.

Lukas received a huge boost when he was invited to switch on Ednam’s Village Hall Christmas tree lights, in Kelso, Borders, and battled horrendous weather conditions to take up the invitation on Saturday night.

Alongside him was sister Mia, and parents Martin and Michelle, who were extremely proud of him.

Martin, 46, a partner with accountancy firm Rennie Welch in Kelso, said: “We got a knock at the door one day from the local Ednam Together group, who had organised the switch on and asked us if Lukas would like to switch the lights on.

“He was absolutely delighted to be asked, although I’m not sure he fully appreciated at the time the full extent of what he was doing.

“It was a wet and windy night, but luckily it went ahead on the day, and a good crowd showed up to lend support.

“It means the world to us as a family, that people would reach out to us.

“Lukas is so excited about Christmas, so this just made it even more special for him.

“We’ve been fundraising for Lukas and putting it towards private treatment called Anat Benial therapy at a hotel in Glasgow every six weeks.

“We also go down to Shropshire every eight weeks to try to get him on his feet and that’s costly as well.

“We are seeing signs of improvement physically and he is coming on. Our ultimate aim is to get him back on his feet, because he is wheelchair-bound at the moment, and we want to give him some independence.

“He has came a long way since January 2017.”

To donate to Lukas and his cause please visit the fundraising page.