Autumn | The Bubble Foundation
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Autumn

Updated: June 17th, 2026

Autumn’s Story 

Autumn is 4 years old, she is an only child living in North Yorkshire with mum Louise, dad Matt and her 2 sausage dog brothers!

From the moment Autumn was born, we knew something wasn't right. Her heel prick showed that she had raised white cell count, indicating an infection, but no infection could be found. She was a small 1.98kg, and she needed help feeding from SCBU for a couple of days.

Her skin was red and blotchy which was brushed off as baby excema. We attended for blood tests biweekly to check her white cell levels, and although they started to drop slightly they never returned to normal levels.

We were referred to dermatology as Autumn’s skin was getting worse, with terrible cradle cap and unlimited creams, but nothing worked. The paediatric doctor we regularly saw passed it off as something she would grow out of. She said she was small when born, and her skin wasn’t ready for the outside world.

While most babies pick up the occasional cold or infection, Autumn seemed to be constantly unwell. Chest infections, skin infections, she lost her thumb nails, she had an abscess on her bum, she got an abscess behind her ear, endless antibiotics, hospital visits and sleepless nights became part of everyday life, although always with a smile!

Doctors treated each illness as it came as an individual infection, but no one put it all together to give us an answer. We just felt we were having a very unlucky streak. Her skin continued to flare up, and we noticed then that when she has a cold or cough, her skin was worse, so we put it down to a stress on her immune system - we never thought for a second there was actually a deficiency.

As the months passed, the worry only grew. Autumn’s immune system seemed unable to protect her in the way it should. Every cough became frightening. Then, at just 18 months old, everything changed.

After a scary trip home from a family holiday in France, which ended up in a hospital stay, we met a consultant who put the pieces together and recognised something rare, something she had only seen once before in their entire career.

Autumn was diagnosed with Hyper IgE Syndrome, an extremely rare primary immune deficiency disorder.

For the first time, we finally had an explanation for the years of illness and confusion. Hyper IgE Syndrome affects the immune system, making it difficult for the body to fight infections properly. Patients can suffer from repeated chest infections, severe eczema, skin abscesses and other serious complications.

Receiving the diagnosis was overwhelming, but it also brought relief; we finally knew we were not imagining things. She was put on a prophylactic dose of antibiotics, and everything seemed to level out and become illness-free again. However, there was one particular occasion when we were back and forth to the local hospital with raging temperatures, constant crying, and we were turned away as her observations were not showing to be a concern. Finally, we were told we would need to wait as there were “some really sick kids waiting to be seen”, which early showed that there wasn’t a proper understanding of Autumn's condition locally. We started to see our immunology consultant from Newcastle, and although we felt understood, we realised the road ahead would not be easy.

In November 2024, we were told that the next stage of Autumn’s journey would potentially be a bone marrow transplant in November 2025.

I don’t know where to even start with life in the bubble…

So we started to have the best summer ever… festivals, early birthday parties, holidays, trips out with friends in preparation for being locked away for 6 months.

Then we wound everything up at home, work, my business, our house, dogs, and packed up to head to Newcastle. Every step of the way is scary and uncertain, but you just try and focus on the positives, the good days, trying to make it fun. We were lucky that we had a soft introduction to the bubble, as she was in over the weekend through the day for treatments etc but then we could go back to our hotel room in the evening to have dinner and sleep, which was a real blessing!

Stepping into that room, unpacking and, listening to the rules for handwashing and shoes and dropping things on the floor was quite a terrifying experience! How would we remember everything!?

But you very quickly settle into the process, the rules become second nature for us all, and you start to deal with each challenge day by day!

The team on Ward 3 are unbelievable, but the real star of the show is Autumn, who throughout this journey, has remained upbeat, positive, happy (most of the time) and brave!

She has faced more in her short life than many people face in decades, yet she continues to be unapologetically her, every single day, with bravery that inspires everyone around her.