Lennie had to be sedated and put on a ventilator before having two life-saving surgeries
Parents were told their son’s ‘rattly’ breath was just a viral infection caught at nursery – until he ended up in intensive care with pneumonia and a collapsed lung. Charlie King and partner Abbie Rogers, both 31, began noticing their six-month-old son Lennie getting regular colds and chest infections.
The new parents, from Thamesmead, south-east London, initially put it down to viruses picked up at nursery. But after several months of “rattly breath” and trouble breathing at night, they kept him home.
Their GP repeatedly reassured them it was viral, and nothing to worry about, when they took their son to get checked, they said. But after six months of back-and-forth with doctors, Lennie’s condition had worsened, they took their son to the hospital.
It was there they learned he had a collapsed lung and pneumonia, and was sedated and put on a ventilator. The little lad, who had just turned one, needed two life-saving surgeries but went on to be discharged and made a full recovery.
Now four, the parents campaign for more awareness and dad Charlie is running the London Marathon in aid of Evelina London Children’s Hospital, the hospital that saved Lennie’s life.
Charlie, a lorry mechanic, said: “Lennie always seemed to be getting unwell, and he didn’t sleep well at night. We put it down to the nursery where he was in contact with lots of other children.
“Doctors agreed it was viral and would clear on its own, but when we took him out of nursery he was still getting ill in the same way. After six months, we said enough was enough, and took him to hospital.
“They told us, ‘you need to prepare for things to get worse before they get better’. Getting that news, it was hard to process. We were told he was the sickest child in the hospital. But he perked up quickly after his operations – and after a year of regular checks, he was signed off completely.”
Charlie and Abbie were thrilled when Lennie was born on October 22, 2021. They began noticing his health declining with a constant string of apparent colds and chest infections from six months old.
They put it down to him being exposed to lots of germs at nursery, and the GP apparently reassured them the illnesses would clear up on their own. But his condition didn’t improve when they pulled him out of nursery, and the parents began booking him into the GP more regularly.
Charlie said: “Every time his illness cleared up, it would start again. We were back and forth with the doctors for months, and after being told yet again it was just viral, we decided enough was enough and took him to Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), in November 2022.
“They checked his chest and told us he had a collapsed lung and pneumonia. He was struggling to breathe and it was putting a lot of pressure on his heart. It went downhill very quickly for him. He was almost gasping every breath. And he was so tiny.”
He was put on a breathing machine at QEH before being transferred to Evelina the following day where he was put in paediatric intensive care. Then he was also found to have empyema – fluid on his lung.
Charlie said: “You can never prepare for that news. You hear the stories, but you never expect it to happen to your own family.”
Tiny Lennie was first operated on to remove the fluid in his lungs with a drain. Then a second surgery was done to remove the remaining infection and stitch his lung to the inside of his ribcage, to prevent it collapsing again. Luckily, once Lennie’s drain was removed, he perked up quickly and was able to be discharged soon after.
He had regular checks for a year after, and when he was signed off from Evelina, the family were relieved to learn his lung health had returned to a normal state, with little chance of issues further down the line.
Since then, Abbie gave birth to a second son in August 2024 called Louie, who is now 18 months. Charlie said: “Lennie is so good now, he has a massive personality and keeps us on our toes. He’s a great brother, he and Louie go everywhere together, they’re always side by side.”
Charlie is now training for the London Marathon, on April 26, and is raising funds for Evelina. He added: “Training is getting there, it’s hard with the kids and work.
“But Lennie will be there when I cross the finish line, along with the whole family. It will be emotional – we’ll never be able to fully repay Evelina for what they did for our family.”
Charlie’s fundraiser: https://www.justgiving.com/page/charlie-king-london2026
