Covid: Boy, 4, with genetic disorder treated at hospice

A four-year-old boy, who was born with a rare genetic disorder that affects his joints and bones, has returned home after receiving care at a hospice.

Mason, from Swadlincote, Derbyshire - who has skeletal dysplasia and has had surgery on his spine and a tracheostomy - was transferred to Rainbows hospice in Loughborough from Sheffield Children's Hospital as part of a plan to ease pressure on hospitals during the pandemic.

Rainbows was given an NHS contract to become an acute hospice looking after very sick children during the pandemic, alongside palliative and end-of-life care.

Mason, who is on a ventilator 24 hours a day, is now back home. His mother, Nicole, said: "I think he'd forgotten what home life was like but he's been amazing."

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