A Dundee youngster who was rushed to hospital after collapsing in his school playground has donated a trolley-full of presents to kids on the ward he was on.
After complaining of headaches for weeks, Jack McGuire suddenly collapsed, leaving his frantic parents fearing that the youngster had a brain tumour.
The five-year-old was rushed into Ninewells Hospital and doctors found the blackout stemmed from a cyst on the brain which was causing a pressure build-up.
The Eastern Primary School pupil had to undergo emergency surgery to relieve the pressure and fluid on the brain by having part of his skull shaved away.
He spent a night in intensive care and was then moved to the high dependency unit for another night before being moved to a bay in the children’s ward for another eight days.
Jack’s mum Deborah witnessed the “terrifying” collapse.
The 28-year-old childminder said: “I know first aid from my job but I just started screaming and another one of the mums rolled him over and then he came around again and we took him straight to the hospital.”
Dad Bruce, 29, who works as an electrical technician, was offshore at the time and faced an 11-hour rush back to the city to be at his son’s bedside.
He said: “It was the worst news that you can get — a guy who I didn’t even know came into my room and told me that my son had an accident.
“When I got to the hospital Jack and Deborah were both asleep so I still didn’t really know what was going on.
“I had to go and look for a doctor to find out what was going on.”
Jack’s brother, three-year-old Rio, was at his bedside every day — often dressing up as a doctor and bringing cake to his hospital bed.
Over the summer holidays, Jack had spent time creating designs using Hama Beads and then selling them to family and friends.
The beads are placed on to a board in different designs and then fused together using an iron to make a solid picture. Jack eventually raised £135 with the creations.
But he then shocked his proud parents by saying that he wanted to buy presents for other kids as a Christmas surprise.
He returned to the children’s ward at the hospital on Wednesday for another scan — but this time he was armed with a trolley-load of goodies for the children who are currently there.
Deborah, from Broughty Ferry, said: “Out of nowhere Jack said he wanted to donate it to the children who might not get toys at Christmas because he had enough himself.
Bruce added: “It was shocking when he came out with it — I didn’t even know that he knew what charity was.
“We were looking at different charities that he could donate the money to. After his fall and operation, he decided himself that the children’s ward would be a good idea.
“He bought loads of jigsaws and colouring-in and art materials. He loved playing with all those kind of things when he was on the ward so he wanted the other kids to have plenty of it.
“We are so proud of him. He did this completely off his own back. We just supported him throughout by keeping his Hama Beads supply topped up. He is such a polite, fun-loving little boy and we are all so proud of him.”
