Adelaide mum Holly Huggins as brave Louie hit with two cruel diagnoses

The Hallett Cove mum thought the day she found out her seven-year-old had cancer was the worst day of her life. But says, “there’s been so much worse since then”. bv

Louie's mother, Holly Huggins, said she keeps a brave face every day for her resilient son. Picture: Supplied

Louie Curtis loves doing what any seven-year old does — running, climbing and playing regular games of soccer with his friends.

But in late February his mother Holly Huggins, 37, felt her mum instincts kick in when her active son looked unusually lethargic and claimed he was cold on a 40 degree weekend.

A trip to the emergency room later that day revealed the worst news imaginable. Louie was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

“I thought that would be the worst day of my life,” Ms Huggin, 37, said.

“But it wasn’t. There’s been so much worse since then.”

Louie, 7, with his 2-year-old sister Maisie. Picture Supplied

Louie looks forward to kicking ball with his mates and going snowboarding when he’s better. GoFundMe

Ten days after his leukaemia treatment began, Louie contracted pseudomonas — a viral bacterial infection that has wreaked havoc on his body and hit his weak immune system hard.

The infection has caused rare complications, including acute pain and inflammation in his left leg, leaving his muscle preventing to straighten his leg past a certain point.

To make matters worse, the pseudomonas has spread into his central nervous system and infected his cerebral spinal fluid, leading to a meningitis diagnosis as well.

The seven-year-old has since spent more time in hospital than at his home since February, his mother says, with his current round of treatment set to last another four weeks.

But even then, there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to go home with the infection considered hard to treat.

“Louie is very, very resilient and very brave, but it has been incredibly hard for him,” Ms Huggins said.

There are tough days where Louie has said he wishes “he was never born” or insists “2025 is not a good year”.

But despite it all, he’s still keen to catch up on all he’s missed out on when normality returns.

“Louie says he wants to go back to soccer when his leg is better, he wants to go snowboarding when he can walk,” Ms Huggins said.

“He loves to learn and he misses being at school so much. He misses his friends.”

His GoFundMe, named Louie the Brave, has currently raised over $12,000 towards their $14,000 goal.

If you would like to donate to support Louie and his family, you can do so here.

Originally published as Adelaide mum Holly Huggins as brave Louie hit with two cruel diagnoses