Jett Goyen: Mum tells of moment she felt son, 10, slipping away before miracle recovery

A young Hobart boy has a long road to recovery ahead after a meningitis and staph infection double blow left him battling seizures and clinging to life in ICU – but he’s a fighter.

Tlani and Jett Goyen with Tlani's dad Robbie and Jett's sister Bailie Haddrick. Picture: Supplied

A Hobart mum has told of the moment she called her dad in sheer panic to let him know she could feel her son, 10, slipping away amid what seemed a hopeless battle to stabilise him in ICU as he battled severe meningitis fuelled by a streptococcus infection.

It was on July 5 that Lauderdale Primary School student Jett Goyen, 10, of Sandford, took what seemed to be a hopeless turn for the worse, mum Tlani Goyen told the Mercury.

“He was incoherent, not himself at all. He had a temperature of 42C. We put him in a cold bath, tried to cool him down,” she said.

“He was saying ‘ouch’ on repeat, couldn’t make any other sounds or anything. We called an ambulance.”

So began any parent’s worse nightmare, as Ms Goyen watched helplessly on.

Lauderdale Primary School student Jett Goyen, 10, is on the road to recovery after his mum Tlani called her dad Robbie on July 10 to say she could feel him slipping away. Picture: Supplied

“There was no other sort of emotion apart from sheer panic, not knowing what to do for him,” she said.

It “hit home” in the emergency department of the Royal Hobart Hospital just how serious things had become.

“He was seizing and they were unable to control it, so they decided to intubate him and took him for an MRI,” Ms Goyen said.

The MRI revealed the presence of meningitis, which was being fed by streptococcus bacteria coursing through his blood stream.

Lauderdale Primary School student Jett Goyen, 10, is on the road to recovery after his mum Tlani called her dad Robbie on July 10 to say she could feel him slipping away. Picture: Supplied

It was last Monday [July 10] that Ms Goyen thought that the fight to save Jett’s life had been lost, two days after her son had gone under the knife for a craniotomy, an operation to release fluid build-up on his brain.

“When they woke him up and removed the breathing tube he started seizing again. It was absolutely terrifying,” Ms Goyen said.

Lauderdale Primary School student Jett Goyen, 10, is on the road to recovery after his mum Tlani called her dad Robbie on July 10 to say she could feel him slipping away. Picture: Supplied

“I called dad and said, I think we’re saying goodbye to him today, this is the end for us.”

However, after further sedation, the first green shoots of a miracle emerged the following day.

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“He was making eye contact, nodding yes or no, giving us a thumbs up,” the proud mum said.

Since then Jett’s prognosis has continued to improve: he can speak short words, can move one of his arms and also eat solid foods.

Lauderdale Primary School student Jett Goyen, 10. Picture: Supplied

Ms Goyen has only spent one night out of the last fortnight away from the hospital and it remains a “long road ahead” for the pair, with Jett likely to spend anywhere from a further two weeks to several months in the Royal.

Family friend Jasmin Gillie has created an online fundraiser to help financially support the family while Ms Goyen, who works at Bunnings Warehouse Mornington, is unable to work to support Jett. It has raised $10,550 at the time for writing.

“Jett’s family are your normal hard working parents and bringing in an income while trying to be by Jett’s side, along with supporting his sister, is obviously creating a financial stress for them,” Ms Gillie said.

Originally published as Jett Goyen: Mum tells of moment she felt son, 10, slipping away before miracle recovery