3 days ago
First day at school for Lanarkshire youngster who was Scotland's youngest Covid patient
Peyton Maguire was just three weeks old when she was diagnosed with Covid in the early days of the pandemic - but has bounced back and is now heading for Primary One
A Lanarkshire youngster who was thought to be Scotland's youngest Covid patient when she was just three weeks old is all set to start school.
Five-year-old Peyton Maguire is among the thousands of new starts who will be heading to classrooms across North and South Lanarkshire for the first time on Thursday when she starts in Primary One at Aitkenhead Primary in her home town of Uddingston.
She weighed less than four pounds when she was born two months prematurely by section at University Hospital Wishaw in the first week of the Covid lockdown in March 2020, and the tiny newborn then had to spend time in isolation until finally testing negative and being able to go home for the first time the following month.
Mum Tracy, now 32, and dad AJ, 34 were shocked when NHS Lanarkshire staff first diagnosed their three-week-old baby with the virus in April 2020 – and her story made headlines around the world in the earliest days of the pandemic, with Tracy now saying: 'The head teacher has joked that they're about to have a celebrity join the school.'
Peyton had been delivered early after Tracy was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, and was being cared for in an incubator in Wishaw's neonatal unit when her parents were told the alarming news that she'd tested positive for Covid-19.
Her mum recalled: 'We were told we'd have to stay away from Peyton for 14 days and isolate at home but I pleaded not to be apart from my baby for that long. The staff kindly agreed I could to isolate with her in the hospital while AJ stayed at home.
'Watching the staff at work was incredible. They put their lives at risk to make sure my baby was getting fed and cuddled. Even wearing their PPE, they were determined to hold her.
'I found the same compassion when I had my second daughter, Harley, who's nearly two now. She was also premature and needed extra care. Peyton was able to visit me and Harley in the maternity unit and the staff were very happy to see her again.'
Boxing coaches Tracy and AJ are grateful that Peyton's expert care during the traumatic period ensured she has had no long-term health problems, with Tracy adding: 'She's great except for a touch of asthma – it's a real tribute to the staff who looked after her. I was so moved when I found out some of them had to live away from their own children during the pandemic but were caring for my baby.'
Peyton bounced back after her weeks of treatment at Wishaw General. The five-year-old loves fashion, gymnastics and drawing and can't wait to begin classes at Aitkenhead Primary, where she is all set with a schoolbag in her favourite colour of pink.
Tracy said: 'We've been in so many papers, magazines and TV shows, but the most worthwhile thing her story has led us to do was taking part in a conference for neonatal nurses, where I shared my experience.
'I was also amazed when a woman tapped me on the shoulder in the street and told me she'd read my story and it was the only reason she'd felt confident to go to hospital to have her baby during the pandemic.'
'It's great to hear how she's doing and hard to believe that tiny, vulnerable baby is now a lively five-year-old who's about to go to school.'
