FIRST time parents Ben and Emma Temple are warning other mums and dads to get their babies vaccinated against whooping cough after their young son stopped breathing 22 times.

Little Finlay Temple was just four months old when he contracted the virus, despite himself having had the vaccination, and spent five weeks in Bristol Children’s Hospital as his tiny body struggled to fight off the infection.

Before he was hospitalised his dad Ben, 32, a trained First Aider, had to resuscitate his son when Finlay passed out during a particularly bad bout of coughing.

“He went bright red and then deep grey and stopped breathing,” said Ben, customer services manager at South Gloucestershire Council’s One Stop Shop in Yate.

“His little arms were flailing and then he passed out. It was the worst thing in the world watching him like that.

“I was so grateful I am First Aid trained and thankfully I was working from home that day as I was able to resuscitate him.”

Finlay was in apnea, when external breathing stops, and stopped breathing a further 21 times. He spent three days in intensive care with the crash team being called in on one occasion and was then cared for on the high dependency unit before finally being allowed home a month later. Ben, who founded and runs Durlsey Tae Kwon-do Club, and his wife Emma, who also works for South Gloucestershire Council, are now urging other parents to ensure they take up the free immunisations offered to all babies.

“The doctors told us Finlay was really unlucky because Emma had her jabs when she was pregnant and he had his immunisations but he must have caught it from someone who had not had a vaccination,” said Ben.

“Apparently it is getting more common not to get the vaccination because people think whooping cough is not a risk but we cannot stress the importance of getting it.

“As a parent having to watch your child go through something like that when others choose not to immunise their child is very difficult. If you could see what your child could go through you would not underestimate it.”

The couple, who live in St George in Bristol, are also calling on more parents to take First Aid training and want it to be offered during ante-natal classes.

“It is only through Tae Kwon-do that I am a First Aider and if I wasn’t, I hate to think what would have happened,” added Ben.

“Finlay went downhill very rapidly and doctors said he was so ill because he was so small. If he had been a few months older he would have been able to fight it but he received excellent care in Bristol Children’s Hospital and is now on the mend.”

As a thank you to the hospital, Ben is raising money for the Wallace and Gromit Grand Appeal, which supports Bristol’s children’s hospitals, through a Tae Kwon-do seminar with the sport’s highest ranking woman, Jane Lambert. It takes place at Dursley Leisure Centre on Sunday, February 21 (12noon-2pm) and all are welcome. Call Ben on 07825 369487 for tickets.