A YOUNG father has told of his trauma as his newborn son fought for his life.

Ciaran and Daniella Fidler feared the worst as their son’s heartbeat shot to more than 220 beats per minute shortly after he was born.

Ciaran said: “My son Leo was born on November 27.

“My wife was given a pessary and induced to help start her labour.

“Within 20 minutes of having the pessary, my wife had a bad reaction and went into hyperstimulation, which caused Leo’s heart rate to exceed 220bpm.”

Leo was born at the Trevor Mann Baby Unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Ciaran said it was a “horrible” situation but realised he had to try to stay relaxed.

He said: “If my partner saw me panicking around her then it would make matters worse, so I tried to stay calm.

“But it’s not what you expect, nobody trains you or tells you how to react in a situation like this.”

Leo and Daniella, both 25, who live in Patcham, Brighton, were rushed to an operating theatre for an emergency caesarean section.

Ciaran said the situation was “overwhelming” as ten people were in the room for the procedure.

He said: “Once Leo was out, we heard one cry and then we did not hear him any more as he was rushed away.

“At this point, all we could hear were the doctors counting one, two, three, four, in their efforts to resuscitate our baby boy, as he had been starved of oxygen and was not breathing.

“A total of 45 minutes went by without us knowing if Leo was OK, it was heart breaking.”

Doctors were able to resuscitate him, and Leo spent the next ten days with one-to-one care.

He was then allowed to go home, but just days later he was admitted back to the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton with a fever and the family stayed there for the next three weeks, including Christmas and New Year.

Ciaran said: “Whilst we were in hospital at Christmas, we were given a special festive hamper full of treats and, on Christmas Day, we were given a Christmas dinner which made a very difficult time a little bit better.

“Now, Leo is doing really well. He is developing his own little character and is always trying to get a bit of attention.

“He is getting checked up once a week at the moment, and we are going to see a specialist soon to find out exactly what’s going on.”

Ciaran has decided to run in this year’s Brighton Marathon on April 14 to raise money for Rockinghorse children’s charity as thanks for saving his son’s life. He has set up a JustGiving page called Ciaran’s Page and is aiming to raise £700.