Harry has had to grow up way beyond his years in the past 21 months but says he doesn’t mind because he loves his brother dearly.

This is a remarkable story about a remarkable family and an even more remarkable little boy whose battle against the odds has amazed his medical team and been an inspiration for all.

As Christmas approached in 2019 life was good for the Mortimers. Then, on 12th December, a day Adam and Christine will never forget, Luke said he had a sore leg. “As he had had PE the previous day we just thought he had taken a knock,” said Adam.

Christine took Luke to school, but by the time they reached the gates he was worse and she took him home. Soon he was in an ambulance on his way to Airedale hospital.

“The doctors were onto it straight away. They diagnosed meningitis and what they did before transferring him to Sheffield Childrens’ Hospital for specialist treatment saved his life. They were fantastic,” said Adam.

“It became very scary. As sepsis started to ravage his body and his skin colour on his arms and legs changed, there was talk of Luke losing limbs.”

Waiting to discover what would happen

Diagnosed with Meningococcal Meningitis Septicemia (type Y), a condition that normally affects adults, Luke was hooked up to all types of machines and put on a dialysis machine to keep his liver and kidneys functioning.

Four days were spent on a ventilator before waiting to see how the sepsis was going to affect him. "With some people the sepsis can reverse and clear up," said Adam. "We had to wait three or four days to see."

Letters were by now being sent to Santa Claus and, with Luke afraid that Santa would pass him by, the nursing staff sat down with him and wrote a letter to Father Christmas.

On Christmas day, however, doctors told his parents at his bedside, that he was to lose his arms. They were to be amputated just below the elbow.

Luke was, of course, upset but by the afternoon of 30th December as he was about to be wheeled into the operating theatre his fighting spirit emerged again. His father heard him say: “Thank you my wonderful hands, you served me well.”

Adam and Christine will never forget these words and, in the following days, there was hope that his legs could be saved. But it wasn’t to be.

Luke’s right leg had to be amputated just below the knee. The left leg required amputation through the knee joint. This meant another operation on Luke’s right leg to level them up to enable the efficient use of future prosthetics.

By now it was 8th January and many more operations followed, together with rehabilitation.

Luke tackled it all with a smile

“He seemed to take it all in his now slightly smaller stride,” said Adam. “He had his moments, but for most of the time he just got stuck into whatever task was needed, tentatively trying to balance, using cutlery, exercising to strengthen his core, all with a smile. Our little boy was returning.”

Nurses would read him stories, but Luke wanted more. This incredible youngster who loves dinosaurs and wants to be a palaeontologist and work at London’s Natural History Museum, told his mum he wanted to use his brain.

So teachers went to the hospital most days to give him lessons and he used his iPad to learn his times tables. Then just when Luke was becoming well enough to return home, the family was hit with another bombshell - covid.

“The ward had become a ghost ship, staff were being diverted to treat covid patients,” said Adam.

“For us it became even harder. I had to return home to take delivery of some medical equipment for Luke’s eventual discharge and the hospital went into lockdown, which meant I couldn’t return, leaving Christine to look after Luke on her own. It was an extremely tough time for Christine. Staff were not allowed into the room, and Christine and Luke were not allowed out.”

The challenges continued, with Adam developing covid symptoms and having to quarantine for 21 days, which meant his oldest son Harry, who had been staying with grandparents since Luke became ill couldn’t go home.

Finally, on April 24, 2020, Luke was allowed home, exactly 20 weeks and five days after being rushed into hospital with his life in the balance.

Costs continue mounting

Now, without limbs, his life had changed forever, as had the lives of the whole family. They made a heart-breaking decision to move from the house they had spent eight years extending and improving to a bungalow to suit Luke’s needs.

Adam, a builder, gave up work to become a full-time carer, while adapting the house for Luke. Christine was given a year off work by the Skipton Building Society to care for her son, but is now back full time.

“Having Luke home was a relief because it meant we could be a family again, but it came with a lot of worry and uncertainty,” said Adam.

The country was still in lockdown amid the uncertainty of the pandemic and Luke and his parents still had to make many trips back to Sheffield for check-ups and fittings for his prosthetics.

The costs of caring for Luke are immense. His current prosthetics cost £10,000 each and he has to have a new set every year as he grows.

“The NHS arms are not entirely suitable for what Luke wants to do, we need robotic arms,” said Adam. “Robotic arms are £13,000 each. So that’s £26,000 a year.”

Many charitable events have been held in the past 18 months, including crowdfunding and personal contributions. Money raised has, among other things, paid for the Mortimer’s bungalow, allowing them to live mortgage-free and provide security for Luke’s future. More events are in the pipeline.

Luke is continuing to lead as normal a life as he possibly can. Last September, he returned to his old school, Water Street Primary, in Skipton. He has teaching assistants with him in class to help him with the physical challenges. The school have been “brilliant” said Adam.

At home, there are times when he and big brother Harry play out with their friends. He even kicks a ball around with them.

A keen rugby fan – he was the star of Skipton Rugby Club’s Under 7s side before his illness and still goes to the club to watch his brother play and his father coach.

“Like any young boy he won’t want mum and dad around all the time as he gets older. He will want his independence. Harry is important to him. They have their brotherly spats, but get on great together,” said Adam. “I am sure as he gets older, he will take life as it comes.”

Given what Luke has overcome so far, this little boy will be making giant strides in the future and walking tall.