The parents of 22-month-old Dylan Findlay from Inverurie, who died during a family holiday to Disneyland Paris, have paid tribute to their “wee warrior”.
“Just because his life was short, doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good life. Dylan was happy, cheeky, always smiling,” said Alison Findlay. “We’re just heartbroken to think he’s no longer with us.”
Early arrival
Dylan Findlay was born on May 4, 2021. Six-and-a-half weeks early he weighed 4lbs and almost 11 ounces. He was given the middle name Arlo, by his older brother Niall, from his favourite film, The Good Dinosaur.
Alison and Robert’s second son was born at 9.05pm but by the following morning attempts to insert a feeding tube into the nose of their premature baby revealed a rare health complication.
Diagnosed with tracheo-oesophageal fistula (TOF) – a condition which affects around one in 5000 children, it prohibited Dylan from swallowing.
Hospital stay
At two days old he received life-saving surgery, however, following the operation tiny Dylan suffered collapsed lungs due to aspirating milk, and spent the first three months of his life in hospital.
“It was difficult. We had to divide our time between Niall and Dylan. Covid restrictions made it even harder. Niall didn’t get to meet Dylan until we got home,” said Alison.
Despite needing to be fed by a tube, by-passing his stomach, Dylan was a happy, strong-willed, confident little boy. Though there would be repeated admissions to hospital – some more serious than others, he was rarely without a beaming smile on his face.
Fearless toddler
“Full of beans”, fair-haired Dylan loved to run around, play with his brother – and his brother’s toys, and to swim. He especially relished the opportunity to tear down the slide, which was his favourite thing to do.
“He had no fear,” said Robert, who works at Aberdeen University.
In March 2022 Dylan was hospitalised once again, this time with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). He recovered quickly, which his parents believe is due to him having been offered the RSV vaccine.
On recovering, the next month – April 2022 – Dylan was fitted with a new tube, so he could be fed directly into the stomach. He moved on to a blended diet and even began to eat small amounts orally.
Dream holiday
“He was doing so well. For most of the last year he didn’t need any hospital stays at all. And because he hadn’t been unwell recently, we got permission from the doctors to go on holiday. Both the boys love superheroes so we booked to go to Disneyland Paris in March.”
The family arrived without a hitch but on the first afternoon there Dylan started vomiting.
“That wasn’t unusual. Children with TOF usually have a lifelong cough which in Dylan’s case would regularly lead him to be sick. By that evening he was exhausted.
“We put him to bed a bit earlier but his breathing became rapid.”
Call for help
The family phoned 112 – the French emergency service number – and asked for an ambulance. Meanwhile, they paid for a GP to come to the hotel and a medic employed by Disney encouraged them to keep calling 112.
“It took two hours for the doctor to get there, by which point Dylan’s appearance had changed. The GP and I had to perform CPR until the paramedics arrived,” said Alison.
“Niall woke up and saw this all happening. When paramedics got there they used the defibrillator on Dylan for 50 minutes but sadly he couldn’t be revived.”
Dylan passed away on March 13 and from that moment the Findlays’ world was turned upside down.
‘In a daze’
Supported by Disney, the family were taken to the British Embassy and to the hospital to complete paperwork so Dylan could be brought home.
“On the one hand, we had so much to get done. It didn’t seem real. We were grieving the loss of our son, in a foreign country. At the same time, Niall was there. We waited a day to tell him what had happened to his brother, we needed to gather our thoughts so we could prepare him for that,” said Alison.
“The park organised for us to take Niall back in, so he had some happy memories from the trip. But I was there, in a daze, with a double buggy but only one little boy. Thankfully he couldn’t see me cry as I pushed him around, while Robert was organising how to bring Dylan home.”
Alison’s brother Martin flew over to accompany her and Niall home, while Robert sister’s Becca came to France to support him until he could return to Inverurie.
‘You are my sunshine’
Dylan’s funeral took place on Friday, March 31, just weeks before what would have been his second birthday.
Flowers in the shape of Captain America’s shield were laid on his casket and his favourite toys, letters from his mum and dad, and drawings from his big brother were tucked in beside him.
Alison recorded herself singing You Are My Sunshine – which she often sang to Dylan at bedtime – which played over a slide show of their favourite photos. Music from his favourite film Lyle Lyle Crocodile also featured, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was played as his coffin left for the cemetery.
Need for change
Initial results from the post-mortem examination, which was carried out on March 17, suggest Dylan had once again been battling the RSV virus, and also had Covid.
“He had no signs of that so we didn’t know. But unlike the last time, this year he wasn’t classed as vulnerable enough to have the RSV vaccine.
“When the dust settles I really think we’ll campaign to have these guidelines changed,” added Alison. “It’s an expensive vaccination. We’ll never know the difference that could have made to him.”
Dylan’s second birthday
On May 4 Dylan would have been celebrating his second birthday. To mark the day the family held a party in Dylan’s honour. Niall and Alison baked cakes, and the wider family accompanied them to Dylan’s grave.
They also lit a candle at 9.05pm – the time their wee boy was born – and held a three-minute silence.
The couple also launched an Amazon Second Birthday Gift List to provide toys for the children’s ward of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Dylan’s memory. More than £2000 of toys were purchased within 24 hours.
‘He brought such joy’
“We may have only had Dylan with us for a short time, but he brought so much love into our lives. We’re really thankful for that. He was always giggling and had us laughing,” said Robert.
“We don’t reflect on Dylan’s life and think his time was unhappy due to his condition. He was such a happy soul who brought so much joy and love to everyone who knew him.”
Conversation