As a newborn, Jim (not his real name) would refuse to be fed and cried constantly, driving his parents to despair. One day when he was four months old, his eyes became "fixed, not moving" and he turned "white", said his father. He and his wife rushed their son to the hospital.
Tests showed he had bleeding in the brain. It took doctors a few days to find out it was due to haemophilia, a rare condition where the blood does not clot normally.
He suffered another two bleeding episodes in his brain before turning one. After the third and most severe episode, he was put on his current prophylaxis regimen as a preventive treatment. It involves injections of clotting factors every other day. His mother, a nurse, administers the injections at home through a port fitted near his collarbone.
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