Hi, Thanks for visiting my fundraising page.
This year I am taking part in the 10 mile Great South Run on the 25 October. I will be running for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in which is a regional centre for the South of England.
I have chosen this charity because early in September my oldest friend Owen and his wife Michelle had a baby called Finley. After 5 days in this world Finley became seriously ill with a condition called Transposition of the Great Arteries which basically means that the two main arteries that supply the body with oxygenated blood were the wrong way round. There is only a limited amount of time a body can survive in this state which meant Finley had to undergo open heart surgery to have the problem corrected. As you can imagine this was a very serious and worrying time for Owen and Michelle and of course family and friends. To be honest not having a child myself I can't even imagine what a terrifying experience they must have had. Anyway because of skills of a particularly vigilant midwife and the specialist skills of the PICU, Finley’s condition was correctly diagnosed and treated. Thankfully Finley made a good recovery and is back home.
Owen and Michelle’s experience is only one of many that happen every day. Some situations end up less fortunate but none of them would stand a chance without the amazing care given by the PICU. The unit encourages family centred care by incorporating the family in care of their child, and providing family accommodation. This became invaluable to Owen and Michelle whilst coping with the trauma of Finley being admitted to the unit and will be invaluable to anyone faced with a similar situation.
Presently the Unit holds only 9 beds but the wish is to expand this to 14 beds in the future with help from donations.
The photo on this page is of Finley whilst he was wired up with life saving tubes and monitoring equipment.
I have pledged to raise £200 by the 25 October. Myself, and I'm sure Owen (who is also doing the race with me), his family and the families of all those who have had contact with the unit will be grateful for your support.
Many thanks
Richard
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