Jayden spent the first three months of his life in Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, fighting to stay alive. At just two days old he suffered two haemorrhages, one in the space between his scalp and his skull and the other under the surface of his brain. He was in critical condition, and his parents were told he was not expected to survive the night.

Jayden defied the odds that night and continued the struggle to stay alive in the Intensive Care Unit where he spent two weeks under daily care by Hospital staff. He was given several blood and platelet transfusions, but regardless of their best efforts, Jayden’s doctors noticed his haemoglobin levels continued to drop.

Jayden underwent tests and it was discovered he has a rare and incurable blood clotting disorder, Severe Haemophilia A. It means he is missing a clotting factor (Factor VIII) in his blood and for the rest of his life is prone to spontaneous bleeding, especially internally, which can affect his joints and muscles leading to immobility. Jayden’s family had to quickly come to terms with the fact their boy is required to have Factor VIII Replacement Therapy, to replace the missing clotting factor, for the rest of his life.

When he was six weeks old, his Haematologist discovered he had developed an inhibitor (antibody) to Factor VIII. This is a major complication for people with Haemophilia and means the antibodies attack replacement therapy causing treatment not to work.

Jayden started to bleed a lot more than usual, all over his body, and at three years of age suffered bleeding into the brain stem and gastrointestinal tract and was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit.  The bleeding put him at risk of either total paralysis or death. Once again, with the dedication of the Hospital staff, Jayden fought the battle and survived.