My beautiful son has the same devastating illness as Jesy Nelson's twins... but a simple £5 test when he was a baby could have changed everything
Nelson is now campaigning for the condition to be added to the NHS' newborn blood spot screening test, also known as the heel prick test. She was advised to take Ollie to A&E, where he was diagnosed with the SMA condition. 'If Ollie had been given a simple heel prick test - the very thing we've been campaigning for since 2022, the outcome would have been much, much better as treatment can begin within days of birth. Another mother of two, Cat Powers, 34, whose second child, sixteen- month-old Charlie also has the genetic SMA condition. Cat said 'I'm hoping that now Jesy is calling for the heel prick test to be implemented immediately, finally some action will be taken by the government.'
Source: Daily Mail January 11, 2026 20:34 UTC
