Olympic sprinter Ian Thomas has revealed his eldest son was rushed to to hospital last month on doctor's orders.
The 50-year-old father-of-three said Teddy, five, had suffered a persistent chest infection which didn't clear up with antibiotics so they visited his GP who immediately sounded the alarm.
Teddy has a weaker immune system than most children his age because of a dangerous infection called Group B Strep, which almost killed him shortly after birth.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Express, Iwan said: "We asked the doctor: 'Can you just listen to his chest? It doesn't seem right' and they said we needed to get an ambulance now.
"We said, 'What? We'll just drive him to hospital.' But the doctors told us we didn't have time. His blood oxygen levels were all over the place."
Teddy spent 24 hours in A&E recuperating before being well enough to go home.
"Teddy's immune system was so damaged when he was born in hospital that his respiratory system is quite weak," explains Iwan. "Most kids will come home from school and have a chest infection or cold and show improvements three or four days later.
"Up to a year ago he was ill for about three months at a time. But we'd had a really good year when nothing was wrong and we thought, 'Wow, we've cracked it', until recently when Teddy got really ill again."
Iwan was speaking to the Express to raise awareness of Group B Streptococcus, commonly known as Group Strep B.
It is a bacteria carried in the stomach, vagina or rectum of between 20 and 40% of adults. Most carriers do not have symptoms, nor do they require treatment.
However, Group B Strep can be fatal or life-changing to some newborns born with the infection.
Around one in every 1,750 babies born in the UK and Ireland are diagnosed with early-onset Group B strep infection within their first seven days. One in 19 babies who develop the infection will die, and one in 14 of those will have a long-term physical or mental disability.
The NHS does not offer a routine test that could prevent babies from becoming so ill with expectant mums given intravenous antibiotics once they go into labour. However, worried prospective parents can pay for the test privately, which costs upwards of £37 depending on the provider.
The education charity Group B Strep Support, which raises awareness about the devastating condition, is one of the beneficiaries of Big Give's Women and Girls Match Fund this month, doubling public donations made to charities over seven days.
The charity has set a Big Give target of £20,000, but the deadline for donations closes tomorrow at noon.
"I would love for more families to have the opportunity to go and get a test to see if they are a carrier for Strep B," says Iwan. "Going through parenthood is a wonderful journey and it's so sad for some people who have that taken away from them because of a preventable illness like Strep B."
The Big Give's Women and Girls Match Fund is a seven-day online match funding campaign working with exceptional charities dedicated to serving the women and girls in our communities. To donate and have your donation doubled search for Group B Strep Support before noon today. Visit
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