Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

My inspiration are my sons(George, Harry, Benjamin) but in particularly for my youngest son Tommy.

 

Tommy was born on 01/12/11 at BWH, however after a simple pulse oxy test it soon became apparent that all was not well, Tommy spent the first 24hrs in this world fighting for his life, a battle that would continue and would take many more twists and turns. After 24hrs in intensive care it was decided that to save Tommy he needed emergency ECMO treatment at Glenfield Hospital. The operation to bypass the lungs and give Tommy a rest was successful, after a relative short stay at Glenfield Tommy was transferred to Birmingham City Hospital.

 

On arrival all seemed well but then his right lung collapsed and he needed help in the form of CPAP, no one knew what exactly was going on but they all battled to help Tommy, after 1 month Tommy was well enough to come home, this however was short lived as after 2 weeks, on a Sunday, Tommy struggled for breath, an ambulance was called and they immediately brought us into the care of Birmingham Children's Hospital.

 

We arrived in resuscitation in A&E ward where the doctors worked their magic to stabilise Tommy, we moved then up to HDU ward for further care but Tommy took another turn, suddenly we were surrounded by Doctors and Nurses all fighting for our Tommy.....it was decided that Tommy was to move into Intensive care for more specialised and dedicated care.

 

Tommy's first months of life were a struggle, an immense battle just to stay alive. In ICU Tommy received the utmost care, outstanding were all the nurses and doctors. Doctor Morris took on the task to unravel the mystery that surrounded our Tommy. We moved back into HDU for a further 4weeks were every test you can imagine was carried out, testing for meningitis, brain tests, metabolic tests...you name it and it was done...all come back with a green light.

 

The ‘Puzzle’ was now his nickname as no one could find a cause. Eventually we left BCH....however this was again short lived....another day and another ambulance again brought us back to were we started in A&E @ BCH....this time was a more lengthy stay, the days blended into the nights...tucked into our bay in the new HDU ward, watching the monitor and Tommy's SAT’s rather than the provided TV was the norm.

 

Tommy was now forced onto constant oxygen, this would become a way of life for the little soldier. More tests which involved Doctor Clarke (Respiratory)....no one again could pin point the problem. We spent a lot of our time on Ward 2 were Tommy received excellent care.

 

Eventually Tommy came home on oxygen and with a nasal tube to help his feeding as he was also struggling to feed as well.We set up a facebook page called ‘Tommy’s Fight’ and it had nearly 200 followers checking on his progress this was an emotional type of blogging. Time is a great healer, and to date Tommy no longer requires oxygen he has been off the support for a few months now, he still has a nasal tube for feeding so he is nearly there.

 

We are still under the care of BCH, they still want to find out what caused this with Tommy....they truly are wonderful professionals. So this is the reason why i am running the Birmingham Half Marathon, Tommy had the fight of his little life...i want to raise as much money as i can for a hospital that supports my son in the way it does...without them god knows where we would be now

So please dig deep and donate now....thank you