Irish mum issues warning to parents after son's tragic illness after cold sore

Irish mum Amanda Scanlon has issued a warning to Irish parents to refrain from ever kissing a baby after her son was left with a brain injury from a cold sore.

Her son Jed, who was healthy and thriving, contracted herpes simplex from a cold sore and is now left with severe learning disabilities and epilepsy.

Amanda has created a TikTok account called "Jeds Journey" where she has shared this horrifying story to raise awareness on what happened to her son.

"Our boy is so brave and is such an inspiration to us all. He wakes up everyday full of life, smiles and mischief," Amanda said in the caption of a post.

"He was born so healthy and content and for the first six months he was absolutely thriving until he became unwell," Amanda said.

@jedsjourney Our boy is so brave and is such an inspiration to us all. He wakes up everyday full of life, smiles and mischief. #warrior #encephalitiswarrior #aquiredbraininjury #jedsjourney #toddlersoftiktok #rarediseaseawareness #introducemyself ♬ The Mountain - FASSounds

Amanda explained that after her son contracted herpes and developed a cold sore which caused inflammation in his brain and has left him with a brain injury.

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She now aims to raise awareness of how dangerous cold sores can actually be and warns parents to never kiss anyone’s baby even if you don’t have a cold sore, especially not on the lips.

@jedsjourney Please comment below for any suggestions of what we can do. #jedsjourney #senparentsupport #senparents #senparentingoftiktok #senparenting #changeneedstohappen ♬ original sound - Jedsjourney

Jed has also has a rare form of epilepsy now and development delays as a result.

"I just wanted to make this TikTok account to raise awareness and to be a help to any other families who are going through the same thing as us".