Zahra was born prematurely and had a Group Strep B infection developing into Meningitis in the first week of her life. She was left with catastrophic brain damage and it was highly likely that she wouldn’t be able to ever breathe unsupported, feed, see, hear or walk let alone sit up by herself. Her parents were asked if they would remove her from life support- which they did. Zahra, like most children, decided to do things her own way and she amazingly continued to breathe unaided.

From then on Zahra kept an extraordinary amount of health professionals very busy and on their toes. She had regular physio, a team of about five consultants, the Demelza home care team, the nurses from our two local children’s hospices. Zahra also kept the local pharmacy pretty occupied and all this was accomplished when she was out of hospital.

Zahra spent half her life in hospital – but in her spare time she liked to keep her mother busy too (by making her learn all sorts of complicated names for all the health problems that Zahra had). Hypothyroidism, Diabetes insipidus, Epilepsy, Panhypopituitarism, Vesicoureteral reflux just to name a few.

A year and a week after removing Zahra off the ventilator, she passed away in her parents arms. When Zahra died, her hospital files were heavier than she was.

I went to Chessnut Tree Hospice to be there for my friend, Zahra's mum. I always imagined it would be a difficult place to visit, a place full of sadness. I couldn't have been more wrong. When i walked through the door i was overwhelmed with feelings of love and hope. This really is a special place, providing special care and support to children and their families. 

Chestnut Tree needs £6,850 a day to run all the care services that they provide. They rely hugely on our donations as they only receive 7% of their income from central government. 

Thank you for donating whatever you can to support present and future families.