Mom claims her 2-year-old son was paralyzed by Covid and STILL couldn’t walk six months later –

A mother said her two-year-old son was paralyzed by Covid.

Hull’s Kawzr Ibrahim said his previous “healthy and active” son, Mirko, became a “different baby” after flu-like symptoms in October.

The mother of two said that her condition deteriorated and she could not walk within a month, was often distressed and needed constant care.

Mirko has never tested positive for Covid, but Ms Ibrahim, 27, says she knew “inside down” that it was a viral infection.

“My son was a healthy, active two-year-old who walked and talked,” she said. “He was such an easy guy, but that all changed in a few weeks. I felt like I had lost him.

Ms. Ibrahim took her son to a specialized clinic in Germany, where he was diagnosed with post-infectious cerebellar ataxia, which made it difficult to balance, walk, speak, swallow or see.

In most cases, post-infection cerebellar ataxia resolves completely within one month, and most infants have no permanent mobility problems.

Doctors abroad were unable to confirm whether Mirko’s disease was caused by Covid or the common Epstein-Barr virus, which can cause similar symptoms.

It turns out that Mirko has antibodies to both viruses, but it’s unclear how recent the infections are.

For the vast majority of children, Covid causes mild or no symptoms at all. During the pandemic, 75 children under the age of 15 died from the virus.

Mirko Ibrahim of Hull became a “different kid” after flu-like symptoms in October. His mother, Kawzr İbrahim, says his condition worsened in just a month and he was unable to walk, was often distressed and needed constant care.

Mirko is now receiving regular physiotherapy on the NHS and has an appointment with a counselor six months later.

After Mirko fell ill with flu-like symptoms last year, Ms Ibrahim said she was unable to get a personal doctor’s appointment due to Covid restrictions.

Due to technical difficulties during a virtual appointment, the doctor was unable to see Mirko and forced Ms. Ibrahim to explain her symptoms.

The child was given antibiotics. Days later, Ms. Abraham took Mirko to the Royal Infirmary in Hull after she began to tremble.

He was discharged after an overnight stay and was told by mail to wait for his appointment with a neurologist consultant.

İbrahim Hanım said, “I told the hospital that this was not my son’s usual behavior. Normally he wouldn’t walk or move like that.

“I knew something was wrong inside of you. My heart was broken and it was like no one was listening to me.’

A week later, Mirko’s chills got worse and he developed a very high fever. İbrahim Hanım said, ‘I was very worried and called 999. The ambulance came and we were taken to the hospital.

His mother said: “I used to take Mirko to play softly and to the park regularly and he just wants to play with his older sister and run around, now he needs two or three people to help him with soft play – space to move around.’

Doctors abroad were unable to confirm whether Mirko’s illness was caused by Covid or the common Epstein-Barr virus, which causes flu-like symptoms, because they found Mirko had previously contracted both infections. But ‘it was clear that all this was a result of Covid’, the mother of two said. Mirko is currently receiving regular physiotherapy treatment on the NHS and has an appointment with a counselor in six months

“I wanted my son to recover but we were sent home a few hours later. I was so angry that no one seemed to be doing anything.”

When his condition did not improve, Mrs. İbrahim took Mirko back to the hospital three days later “because she knew there was a problem”.

‘I said to the hospital: ‘Please help my son is not normal, look at this he is shaking.

“I said I wouldn’t leave until I got a response, but was told that his illness was not serious and there were other children who were even sicker.”

Ms Ibrahim said she was told to leave the hospital due to Covid policies and was not told whether Mirko had been tested for Covid.

At the time, non-mass testing was still going on and it is unclear why Mirko was not infected for Covid at home.

A few days later, Mirko stopped walking and was taken back to the hospital, where he stayed for four days. He was given an MRI and had to go through several blood tests.

However, the couple was sent home again when the baby did not have any problems in the tests. Ms Ibrahim said she “doesn’t know what’s going on yet” but that Mirko has “not recovered”.

She said: ‘I couldn’t stop crying. My son went downhill and broke my heart. I hadn’t slept in weeks, it was horrible to see her in such pain.

“My son was paralyzed within a few weeks and nothing was done about it. I was constantly told to be sent home and wait, but in Mirko’s case time was not on our side. I had to quit my job because my son needed me.

Mirko was hospitalized for the fifth time days later, when his tremors “became uncontrollable and he couldn’t stop crying.”

A lumbar puncture was done—a thin needle was inserted into the bones between bones to take a sample of fluid—but it came back to normal.

Her mother said she was being taken to Leeds hospital for further testing, where she is now having her second birthday.

But even these tests clearly bounced back, and Mirko was fired five days later.

Ms Ibrahim said doctors had told her that Mirko might have “post-infectious cerebellar ataxia.”

“Even though I trusted the doctors, I still didn’t have a confirmed diagnosis,” he said.

‘The doctors in Hull told me nothing was guaranteed because they were still learning what the situation was. I didn’t know what to believe anymore.

In November, Mirko began squinting, which Ms. Ibrahim said was causing her vision to deteriorate.

In January, Ms. Ibrahim decided to take her son to a private pediatric neurological clinic in Germany.

Tests showed that he has Covid antibodies and is infected with the Epstein-Barr virus, which nearly everyone has by the time they reach adulthood.

However, doctors could not confirm which virus was causing Mirko’s condition.

Ataxia describes a group of disorders that affect coordination, balance and speech, thought to affect 10,000 Englishmen.