A “frightened” Shropshire father made a 10,500-mile mercy dash to be at the bedside of his seriously-ill young son.

Dr Maxwell Winchester rushed back to Shrewsbury from a conference in Sydney, Australia, after his seven-month old son Alexander suffered a collapsed lung and bronchiolitis.

Today he warned other parents to be on their guard against serious chest infections and respiratory problems.

These problems have been putting a strain on the county’s two main hospitals. 

Little Alexander deteriorated in 24 hours after falling ill, sleeping a lot, becoming fairly unresponsive and losing interest in food and drink.

He was given antibiotics by a doctor, but within a day his condition worsened and he was taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Dr Winchester, a Harper Adams lecturer and Shrewsbury and Atcham borough councillor, said he was contacted by his wife Tiffany soon after their son was admitted to hospital last Wednesday.

Alexander was taken into intensive care and remained in the RSH until Sunday night.

The youngster was discharged after showing improved, but his condition deteriorated and he spent another night in hospital on Monday, returning home on Tuesday.

Dr Winchester said: “He became really ill a day after going to the doctor’s and had a collapsed lung.

“I received the call Wednesday night Shrewsbury time and tried to organise a flight back from Sydney as soon as possible to get home.

“I got back Friday night, having flown unable to get updates or knowing how he was doing, so it was quite frightening.

“He’s out again now and we think he’s okay as he’s much better. There’s quite a lot of children with similar things at the moment and we’ve been told there’s a lot of things going around.

“I would warn parents to not waste any time getting to the doctors or casualty if their child is ill, because they can get worse very quickly.”

He also warned parents to be wary of mood changes in children as it could be a sign of illness. The couple, who also have a two-year-old daughter, Rhiannon, praised the RSH for its support.

Mrs Winchester, who is also a lecturer, said: “The hospital staff were absolutely wonderful.”