SPRINGDALE, Arkansas (KNWA/KFTA) — Bo Henshall’s laugh and goofy personality are the cutest, but there was a moment when his family saw neither.

“Sometimes I was happy. Sometimes I was sad. Sometimes I just felt uncomfortable.”

Bo spent several weeks at Arkansas Kindergarten in Little Rock in August 2020 with an illness that seemed to come out of nowhere.

“A few days later, we just opened our eyes and realized, yes, at this moment he seems to be fighting for his life,” said Alicia Henshall, Bo’s mother.

Alicia initially said he was thought to be battling COVID-19 as it was in the midst of a pandemic, but doctors determined he had hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, which he got from E. coli poisoning.

“This is a very, very serious disease, and she knows no mercy until she passes,” Alicia said.

Angel One picked Bo up from Arkansas Children’s Northwest in Springdale and took him to the main Hospital campus in the metropolitan area.

She says that HUS caused his kidneys to shut down, which then led to a loss of blood flow to his colon.

“They had to go in and remove 75% of his colon and that at that point he had a stoma in a pouch for six months,” Alicia said.

“It made my life very difficult,” Bo said.

Bo spent about six weeks recuperating in the hospital, narrowly avoiding a kidney transplant.

“Most of the time I was in my bed. I was in the hospital all the time or sleeping,” Bo said.

During this time, Bo lost the ability to walk. His mom was thrilled when she remembered the day he re-educated.

“He was so proud of himself, which made him all the more exciting,” Alicia said. “He was only four years old, but he could understand that ‘I can walk’, ‘I’m alive’ and ‘I have to do it again.’

A year and a half later, Bo survived HUS.

Bo shared his feelings for Angel Odin, seen flying above him. “Here is my angel. My friends are there,” Bo said.

“He realized they saved his life,” Alicia said. “And it’s really sweet to see him interact with them like that.”

Bo now serves as an ambassador for Arkansas Children’s.

“I knew that every time I get better, I get closer to returning home,” Bo said.

“Being able to walk alongside families who are going through the same things that we are is a bit surreal,” Alicia said.

Bowes shares his story because he knows firsthand what to say to children in the hospital. “It’s okay to be afraid,” Beau said.

You can provide sick and injured children in Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley with immediate access to medical care through the Give the Children a Miracle Telethon.

KNWA/FOX24 is helping raise money to support Children’s Northwest Arkansas efforts.

More information on how to donate can be found here.

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