Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentIndependentSwipe for next articleIndependent Bulletin homepageDownload our appAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleJames BesanvalleThursday 04 June 2026 10:07 BSTDad Dean said Rafi is the 'happiest' boy (PA)Rafi Amer, then seven, was sent home from school in September 2023 after vomiting, which progressed to severe cramps; doctors initially misdiagnosed his condition as constipation and a stomach bug over two weeks.After his father discovered blood in his stool, Rafi was rushed to hospital where his condition rapidly worsened, leading to stage four kidney failure, multiple seizures, a brain injury, and three cardiac arrests, with doctors urging his family to say their goodbyes ƒRafi was diagnosed with Shiga-toxin producing E.coli-haemolytic uraemic syndrome (STEC-HUS), a rare kidney condition, and was placed on life support, including an ECMO machine, remaining in a coma for two weeks.After two weeks, Rafi regained consciousness but was in a vegetative state, unable to respond for about six months, before slowly showing signs of awareness like blinking and eye tracking, indicating the beginning of his long recovery.Now nine, almost three years after his illness, Rafi can talk, eat, sit up, and has recently learned to stand independently, with his family having moved into a Ronald McDonald House for 186 nights to be near him during his nine-month hospital stay.In full‘Doctors thought my son was constipated – he actually had rare E.coli that left him in a coma’Thank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in