On the 13 December, aged just 2 ½ weeks old, our son Edward was taken to Royal Sussex hospital in Brighton with what at the time was deemed a common cold. During this day his conditioned worsened and he was later diagnosed with Pertussis (Whooping Cough). Later that day due to his deteriorating condition, Edward was transferred to the Evelina Children’s Hospital at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ in London where he underwent a blood transfusion to try and expel the toxins this disease had brought on.

 

Whilst this treatment brought control to this severe condition, there had already been significant damage to his heart and lungs due to the severity of the illness  it was deemed necessary to take further action in order attempt to save his life. Edward was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital where he was put on an ECMO machine, which would replace the work his heart and lungs to allow them to recover during treatment. Over the next 48 hours, Edward struggled to deal with the severity of this illness and despite the best efforts of all the staff at Great Ormond Street and love from his family and friends he passed away peacefully on the morning of the 16 December.

 

I am running the marathon and raising funds for this charity for obvious reasons. Firstly, as a way of remembering Edward and the great joy he brought me and my wife Joanna during this short period, but  also for all the groups of people that treated Edward when he was ill. Whilst the main charity I am raising funds for is the Great Ormond Street, I also want to recognize the efforts that both the Royal Sussex in Brighton and the Evelina in London played in the treatment of Edward and the work they do every day to look after sick and poorly children. The ECMO machine gave Edward a chance of survival, however there are very few in the UK and require constant supervision from a team of nurses and are therefore very expensive to run. Sponsorship such as this will enable GOSH to buy more equipment, increase staffing levels  and ultimately support other families going through similar experience.

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