Hello lovely people ❤️

Please make a cuppa and sit down…this is a long story!

You may or may not be aware of my family’s rubbish luck over the past year and a half. I will explain.

My beautiful daughter Leah passed away very unexpectedly in July 2023. She had just turned 18, finished beauty college and had started her first full time job. She suffered an epileptic seizure at home and simply fell asleep forever. I can’t put into words the trauma we experienced because there are no words. It’s impossible to describe the gut-wrenching grief, the shock or the heartbreak. Leah was my wing-girl and I miss her so, so much. My life will never feel complete again. I still cry for her most days, as I am now as I write this. It’s devastation in the worse way imaginable. Losing Leah has obliterated my perfect life forever and my heart breaks every time I think about never seeing her beautiful face again. And although we are strong, we are still coming to terms with what has happened and probably will do for the rest of our lives.

Just six months later, in March last year, our youngest daughter Isabella needed open heart surgery. She was 8 years old at the time. Isabella was recovering well but then had a set back which saw her taken back into intensive care. She needed a chest drain inserted as fluid was collecting in her lungs. A day or two later, she needed a heart drain as she had fluid building around the lining of her heart. We thought we were on the home straight at that point but sadly, we weren’t. Isabella then suffered a major set back and was rushed back into intensive care in the middle of the night and the doctors had to shock her heart twice. It was terrifying. We feared the worst when she was put onto a ventilator. We were absolutely in bits and beside ourselves. So soon after losing Leah, we were faced with the most awful situation, too scared to think about what the outcome could be. We sat for hours by Isabella’s bedside, hoping and praying. I even prayed to Leah, begging her to help bring her little sister back to us. And she did…along with specialist care from the truly amazing doctors and nurses, Isabella started to get better and was taken off the ventilator the following day and finally made a full recovery.

I won’t need to explain how truly awful these times were for our family. But we were lucky. We were lucky because we had amazing support from our family and friends who were by our sides throughout. They continue to be there for us even now, a year and a half later.

And now we would like to give back to two charities who were also there for us. The Brompton Fountain who are a charity based at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London where Isabella was treated. They have supported us throughout Isabella’s life enabling us to make wonderful memories with her and our other children. They provide medical equipment & supplies, buy treats for the children and parents while they are in hospital, they organise wonderful days out and parties along with so many more brilliant things. They truly are the best!

SUDEP Action is a charity that supports those who’s loved ones have died suddenly from epilepsy or epilepsy related illness.

I turned to them for support after we lost Leah. They offered me free counselling for as long as I needed it and for whenever I needed it. No questions asked. They listened to me cry down the phone so many times, no judgement, no time limit, they just listened and offered support, care and advice. They were a lifeline for me.

And it’s because of these two wonderful charities that Andrew and I, along with our trusted friends and family members, have decided to climb Snowdon. We would love to be able to give a little something back.

Now…climbing Snowdon for some may be an easy challenge and I’m sure for some of our trusted group, it will be an easy challenge. However, Andrew and I….well, not so much! But we are determined to do it for Leah and Isabella and those affected by epilepsy and heart conditions.

If you are able to spare a little bit of money, literally every single £1 will make a difference. We would be so, so grateful. And if you can’t, that’s absolutely fine of course! But maybe instead you could support us by sharing this post in the hope that someone else will read our story.

We will be doing a few other fundraisers over the next few months…a coffee morning, a raffle, maybe a quiz night so keep your eyes peeled!

If you made it to the end of this, well done! Thank you for sharing your tea break with me ☕️