Brave Scott loses his fight for life

Oct 20 2011 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

A COUPLE have paid tribute to their young son who has tragically passed away after suffering an asthma attack.

Scott Nicol (10) from Livingston, had suffered from the condition all his life.

He fell seriously ill recently and had to be rushed to hospital suffering from breathing problems.

Scott stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated at St John’s Hospital before being transferred to the Sick Kids’ Hospital in Edinburgh, where he sadly passed away.

Now his mum Linda (39) and dad William (43) of Ladywell, have said they are devastated by the loss of their boy.

Linda said: “Scott hadn’t been well and was saying that he was too hot and that he was uncomfortable.

“I’d been with him but went to get myself a painkiller and I heard Scott calling for his dad, then William called to me to phone an ambulance.

“Normally, he could have taken his inhaler, but it was too bad an attack and he couldn’t breathe.

“William went with Scott in the ambulance and they tried to revive him for about 25 minutes and eventually got him breathing again.

“But there had been a lack of oxygen to his brain and he was put on a ventilator and transferred to the Sick Kids’ Hospital.”

But despite the medical care and Scott putting up a brave fight for several days, the youngster died in hospital on October 7.

His mum said the family have been left in shock after losing Scott, and said the funeral on Monday was especially traumatic.

She said: “It’s just been a terrible time.

“The funeral was particularly hard.”

Linda said Scott had a caring nature and used to look out for his younger brother Sean (7).

She said: “Scott was a good boy and was always well-behaved.

“His wee brother Sean has been asking who is going to look out for him now, because Scott always made sure he was alright.”

Football-loving Scott also loved to be out playing with his friends whenever he could, although Linda said Scott hadn’t been able to join in with a game very much recently.

She said: “Scott loved his football and when he couldn’t run around, he would be in goal.

“But since he hadn’t been feeling too well and was on steroids for seven weeks to try to help his asthma, he hadn’t really been able to go out and play.”

And as a mark of his popularity as a primary six pupil at Harrysmuir Primary, his schoolmates have compiled a book of their memories of him, which they have given to his mum and dad.

Among their recollections were of Scott as a helpful friend who was happy to give support to any of his classmates.

His mum said: “He was good at school especially, at maths, and always caught up easily if he had been off ill. Scott was always happy to help other people if he could.”