Sunderland mum looks to go the extra mile running the Great North Run for The Sick Children’s Trust who helped after toddler's kidney failure

Jessica, 36, and partner Craig Ciaraldi, 43, had become concerned for son Jude Ciaraldi at the start of February after he became unwell and experienced vomiting over several days.

Initially the doctor at her GP practice thought it was a sickness bug, however Jessica became more concerned after noticing a “reddish colour” in Jude’s nappy.

After calling 111 she was advised to take Jude straight to Accident and Emergency at Sunderland Royal Hospital where a urine sample revealed he was suffering kidney failure.

Doctors made the decision to transfer him to the Paediatric Intensive Care unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle where he was placed on a dialysis machine and put into a medically induced coma to reduce the strain on his heart.

Jessica and Craig were told by doctors to “prepare for the worst”.

Jessica, who works as a child care worker, said: “We thought Jude would only need minor treatment but just moments later we were thrown into the most terrifying situation of our lives. When your child is in intensive care you just take everything minute by minute.”

To enable Jessica and Craig to be at Jude’s bedside as long as possible, the couple were offered a place at the charity’s Crawford House, which provides on-site accommodation for parents and siblings.

As well as affording the opportunity to be close at hand, it also removes the additional strain of travelling to and from hospital.

Jessica added: “There was no way we could have made the commute from Sunderland every day. Crawford House was a godsend and made sure we were always just a short walk from Jude’s bedside.

“That support, when you’re going through the worst moment of your life, is absolutely amazing. It’s hard to put into words what it meant to us, but for Craig and I to be able to stay together and support each other was so important.”

Fortunately time spent on the dialysis machine enabled Jude’s kidneys to begin to repair and after six days he was brought out of his coma. He remained in hospital for two weeks and was initially placed on medication to help his kidneys function.

After two weeks he also came off the medication and doctors have said the problem is “unlikely” to happen again.

To “give something back”, Jessica is running this year’s Great North Run and has set up a JustGiving page.

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She said: “While I’ve never been a runner, I wanted to challenge myself. If my son can go through all that and come out the other side, why can’t I do some training and raise money to support a charity that is so important to families?”

While some element of mystery remains, doctors have said Jude’s condition may have been caused by Post Infectious Glomerulonephritis - a rare type of kidney disease.

The Sick Children’s Trust has supported 73,000 families since forming in 1982.

Community Fundraising Manager, Elisa Coppello-Dowd, said: "We can’t thank Jessica enough. It will be a tough challenge, but we’ll be cheering her every step of the way.”