Imagine not being able to kiss your own baby!
17 month old baby Jack Hayhoe from Hoylake has a potentially fatal blood disease, the rare Wiskott Aldrich syndrome.However, he has been given a lifeline by way of a bone marrow transplant.
Without the operation, baby Jack is unlikely to live past 10 years of age.
The operation, which will put him in hospital for three months or more, and which will see Jack safe from infection involves caring for him in a BUBBLE, a high-tech sterile space, measuring 8 feet square, their ‘home’ for the duration of their treatment.
Imagine not being able to pick up your crying baby until you have scrubbed your hands clean for three minutes and put on a special gown.
Imagine not being able to take your baby for a walk because he needs to stay in a sterile BUBBLE of clean air.
Some parents don’t have to imagine, for Jack's parents it is real.
The only chance of survival for these ‘BUBBLE’ babies is to give them a new immune system. Giving them a Bone Marrow Transplant, a difficult and painful treatment, is the only way. And the process typically takes 6 months, but can be longer, up to 2 years.
The Children’s Bone Marrow Transplant Unit in Newcastle-upon-Tyne is one of only two units in the UK and Ireland that can give these precious babies the meticulous medical and nursing care needed. We also provide a follow up service for these children and their families once they go home.
The BUBBLE FOUNDATION UK raises funds for medical equipment, toys and educational aids, welfare of the babies, children and their families, and importantly to fund research required at this cutting edge of paediatric practice.
We need support so that more babies and children can recover and go home to live normal lives. For this reason, I am running the Liverpool 10k on October 4.
Please pledge your donations to raise funds for the Bubble Foundation, and help baby Jack Hayhoe and other children.
