On 16th June, 17 month old Amelia Bolter was admitted to Bristol Children Hospital, after being at R.U.H Bath with SVT which is a really fast heart rate between 180-220. The next day her parents were told the words from the doctors that no parents should hear, ‘prepare for the worst’. Obviously Rich and Jodie were absolutely devastated. They found out she was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, poor heart functioning. Her BNP (which measures heart failure) was at 35000, for her age its need to be under 800. She was in intensive care for 15 days before she was moved into the dolphin ward where she would slowly improved over the next 19 weeks. Her BNP gradually went down to 4000. On 1st October her health deteriorated quickly when she suffered with sepsis, pneumonia, an infection on her Hickman line, gut infection, rhinovirus and not coping well with her flu jab. They removed her Hickman Line as they saw her infections kept increasing. They successfully got that out but she then deteriorated again. She had then been fully sedated and ventilated for the next couple of months, during which Amelia was transferred to GOSH (Great Ormond Street Hospital) where they were told she needs to get on the heart transplant list and could take up to 2 years to wait for the correct heart for her weight and blood type.

Then on the 25th Nov, she took a turn and went into sinus tachycardia. On 30th Nov she went onto the operation table to have the VAD (ventricular assist device) put in to help her heart function better. Since then, she has suffered with two mini strokes on her brain but luckily didn’t cause any damage.

Amelia became a big sister to Blossom on the 23rd December.

2 days later, on Christmas Day, she went for a CT scan which showed that her small intestines were twisted and had a hole in them. This led to emergency surgery to remove it and tie them back together. This was very high risk surgery being on the VAD as it could cause blood clots. Luckily she came through with no issue. Her stomach started playing up again and on the 16th Jan, the doctors agreed that a stoma bag would be best for her. The surgery all went well.

Since then Amelia has got better and better. She has come off all 4 sedations after being on them for over 3 months. Amelia had her 2nd birthday in hospital which they were allow to go off the ward and the flamingo ward set up a little birthday party for her. On 1st Feb, Amelia went outside for the first time in over 5 months, going on the rooftop with the stunning scenery of London. With the help of physios, Amelia has been building up her strength in her arms and legs, now she can start crawling again and hopefully soon will be able to walk. She is now back to being her cheeky, sassy, happy and smiling self.

Rich and Jodie would like to split the donations with The Grand Appeal, and The Sick Children’s Trust. They have been incredible to Rich, Jodie and Amelia since day one, and they will all be forever grateful for saving her life on multiple occasions.

Thank you everyone for all your love and support.