Lucy Mecklenburgh reveals her son Roman was rushed to hospital and put on a ventilator

Lucy Mecklenburgh has revealed her son Roman, 18 months, was taken to intensive care and put on a ventilator after she found him ‘blue in his cot’.

The former TOWIE star, 30, took to Instagram on Thursday to tell fans about the health scare and admitted she and partner Ryan Thomas, 37, may ‘never fully recover’.

Roman spent nearly a week in intensive care but his parents confirmed he is now back at home safe and sound.

Lucy wrote: ‘As some of you may have noticed we haven’t been on social media lately. Just over a week ago I found Roman blue in his cot – probably every parent’s worst nightmare.

‘Without going into two much detail it ended up with Roman being transferred to St Mary’s London intensive care being put on a ventilator.

‘Thankfully we are now all home and Roman is back to his cheeky self.’

Lucy said the experience has made her want to get involved with charities for sick children and the hospital where Roman was taken.

She wrote: ‘I am eternally grateful to the ambulance service for arriving so quickly, to Basildon hospital, the CATS team (Children Action Transport Services) St Mary’s London PICU and Cosmic Charity (Caring for babies & children in intensive care).

‘I would love to do something in return and help other sick children and their families. I’d like to help with the new children’s garden area at Basildon Hospital as it’s unusable at the moment and I know it would bring so much joy to children on the wards.

She added: ‘I’d also like to support Cosmic charity with a donation from us, and a promise I will support this charity as much as I can in the future.

‘If you would be generous enough to support this incredible charity there’s a Just Giving page in my bio which would mean the world to me if you made a donation and this is why.

‘Cosmic Charity raises significant funds for the children’s intensive care unit at St Mary’s Hospital London which Roman was transported to when Basildon Hospital could simply do no more for him.

‘The charity helps by funding high tech equipment that helps save children’s lives that the NHS is unable to fund, support and on-site accommodation for parents & families which I can confirm is so greatly appreciated by the parents of the children in intensive care too get some much needed rest knowing they are so close.

‘Training and education for health professionals & clinical research into life threatening childhood diseases. Funded incubators for babies in intensive care, hundreds of hours counselling for families and frontline staff.’

Lucy finished her message by saying how much the experience had opened her eyes to all the work carried out by NHS staff.

She said: ‘Although mentally we as a family may never fully recover, we feel extremely blessed to have our special boy home in our arms.

‘It has truly opened our eyes to all the hardworking superheroes working in our hospitals who dedicate their lives to helping others and how extremely lucky we are to have these incredible medical services free for us all in the UK. Thank you NHS and all the charities that support the NHS.’

Ryan took to Instagram and shared a photo of himself cradling Roman in his arms at the hospital.

He wrote: ‘No words can explain how grateful we are to have our little boy home safe after spending nearly a week in intensive care.

‘As parents it’s been one of the scariest times of our lives but with thanks to our amazing doctors & nurses we have king Roman back playing, smiling & more importantly eating, i would like to thank the @nhs and also @cosmic_charity who have been unbelievable, You both really are the real life superhero’s’.

The couple were inundated with well wishes from their followers and celebrity pals with Kate Ferdinand writing: ‘Poor Roman, sending you all lots of love xxx’.

Ryan’s former Coronation Street co-star Catherine Tyldesley wrote: ‘Oh darlings… I’m so sorry you’ve all been through such a scary time. I’m so glad he’s OK. Sending you all so much love xxxx’.

Fellow Corrie star Samia Longchambon sent a love heart while Denise Van Outen and Love Island’s Alex George both wrote: ‘Sending love’.

Lucy and her partner Ryan welcomed Roman back in March 2020, while Ryan is also father to daughter Scarlett, 12, with his ex Tina O’Brien.

The couple first met on Celebrity Island With Bear Grylls in early 2017.

Lucy took to Instagram on the evening of her 28th birthday to announce she was expecting her first child with Ryan and debuted her blossoming baby bump in a figure-hugging red dress.

The ex Corrie star gifted Lucy a baby grow, which they held up for the snap as they revealed that they were set to welcome their first baby together following two years of dating.

The couple are currently living in Lucy’s native Essex while they work on doing up their new Cheshire pad.

Back in March, Lucy shocked her Instagram followers when she shared a snap of a set of keys, captioned: ‘New house, new project, new memories to be made.’

Although Ryan now has two homes in the UK, he recently confessed that he would love to live abroad.

He explained that won’t be able to happen in the near-future, however, as he wouldn’t want to leave daughter Scarlett, who remains in Manchester with actress mother Tina.