Wellington toddler wakes from sedation after 10 days fighting illness

Brock Wilton-Weaver has recovered from his illness and is back being a cheeky active toddler. Photo / Supplied

The little boy who was medically sedated after catching a common cold has woken up after being asleep for 10 days.

Brock Wilton-Weaver was hospitalised in mid-July after a cold developed into pneumonia and bronchiolitis due to his lungs not being fully developed because he was born 11 weeks premature.

The 18-month-old Wellington boy was transferred from Wellington Hospital to Starship after being sedated so a breathing tube could be inserted down his throat and into his lungs to do the work for him.

He remained sedated while his body fought of the bugs.

But two weeks ago, after sleeping non-stop for 10 days Brock was eventually well enough to be woken up.

Parents Abby Wilton and Adam Weaver, who had been by his side since he was admitted, anxiously waited as he came to and asked for his beloved teddy.

"Within a day of being woken up he was off oxygen and running around the room," Wilton said.

"They kind of just woke him up and he was alive and active as."

Brock was sedated for 10 days at Auckland's Starship Hospital while he recovered from bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Photo / Supplied

But because he had been dependent on drugs for such a long time, the little boy suffered morphine withdrawals.

He started shaking and sweating.

The family had to stay in Auckland while doctors had to wean him off the morphine by giving him small doses of it.

He was eventually discharged on Thursday, July 25 and accompanied his parents and 5-year-old sister Harper home on a commercial flight. The family had been staying at Ronald McDonald House while Brock was in hospital.

The family was grateful to be back home and reunited with Wilton's 14-year-old son Baxter who had stayed behind with family.

A Givealittle page set up by a friend of Wilton's raised $10,000 and meant that Weaver could stay in Auckland with the family without having to race back to work.

Wilton said the money had gone towards covering the loss of income and paying for household bills while also buying items such as a dehumidifier, wall panel heaters that would make the house healthier and warmer for Brock so they wouldn't trigger his respiratory issues. It also paid for their daughter Harper's flight back to Wellington as it was not covered.

She was terrified of Brock being hospitalised again and was doing her best to keep him away from places that were highly populated so he wouldn't catch anything.

"We are just stressed really. You can't just put yourself in a bubble and you know he's going to be exposed to stuff. But you don't really want to relive that again."

Specialists had warned the family Brock's lungs would not be fully developed until he turned 5.