Feeling helpless and devastated after seeing her son become severely ill, a mother from Worcestershire in the UK went to social media to raise awareness about how hard it is to see someone you love fall victim to the ongoing pandemic COVID-19.

30-year-old Lauren Fulbrook was completely devastated when her 5-year-old son, Alfie, began showing signs of the infection. As he laid helpless in a hospital bed, he asked her, "Mummy, am I going to die?"

As she went to Facebook to share this, she wrote, "Coronavirus is NOT a joke. Please stop brushing it under the carpet and putting not only your own lives at risk but everyone else's just because you want to go to the pub, or to a restaurant or think you need 7 packs of 24 toilet rolls- god knows why. As a Covid-19 positive household I've seen the effects it has."

Source: Lauren Fulbrook's Facebook

Talking about the dire effects it has had on Alfie, the mother wrote, "I've had to watch my 5yr old son go from having all the energy in the world to not moving, not eating, hardly drinking or urinating. His temperature wouldn't go below the 40's and at its highest was 42.3 which caused vomiting, I watched him hallucinating and crying from the headache, being taken to hospital by ambulance to be put in isolation pods and be swabbed for the virus and confirmed positive."

While they were in the hospital, Lauren had to hear some of the most painful words that a loving parent can't bear to hear their children say. "He lay in the hospital bed and asked me if he was going to die - as a mother that is heartbreaking."

Lauren went on to say, "His blood sugar levels were only 3.7, his respiratory rate was 18-20 and his heart rate was 180, the sweat was pouring out of him but he was shivering, he was panting for breath and he had photophobia. As his mom and not being able to do anything for him has been one of the worst experiences of my life."

Source: Lauren Fulbrook's Facebook

Urging people to do take precautionary measures for themselves and for the sake of their loved ones, Lauren added, "...Please, just stay in for a little while, so what if you can't do all your normal things, the sooner everybody does social distancing, the sooner it will be over. I am not posting this for attention or sympathy, as I could of done that the day he got sick, I just want people to stay safe. Please think of your health and others."

Alfie was kept in the Worcester hospital overnight and was allowed to go back home the following day, given that they would follow the strict isolation restrictions.

"The hospital advised that as long as I could give Alfie medicine – I would be able to self-isolate us all at home," the mother shared, according to Metro. "He’s still recovering now after a week and a day. Today is the first day he has asked for food and has been playing a little bit. He still has a cough and a slight temperature but he is getting better."

Source: Lauren Fulbrook's Facebook

By writing about the devastating experience on Facebook, she hoped that people would understand how grave the situation can be and said, "I just wanted people to take it seriously, stop acting like it’s nothing and they won’t get affected, they might not, but they can pass it on to others."

Despite going through one of the most harrowing experiences of her life, Lauren still has to stay strong for her family. "I don’t have a choice but to power on, I have an 18-month-old daughter as well as Alfie and we are all ill now, just not to the extent that Alfie was."

What she won't forget for a long time is the distress that her little boy went through during the time. She shared, "It was truly one of the worst experiences of my life, hearing my son ask if he was going to die and seeing the genuine panic and upset in his eyes broke my heart."

To all those who shared their best wishes after seeing her post, she said in a follow-up edit, "Thank you to everyone for their kind words and good wishes, and overwhelming support. Alfiepops is starting to get better slowly now."

Featured image and facebook image credited to https://www.facebook.com/lauren.fulbrook.7/posts/259140231783155