My name is Emily-Rose Hurley and this is my story:

I was born on Saturday 6th Sept 1997 to my parents Kelvin and Bernadette Hurley in the University hospital of Wales (Heath).
My life did not start in the same way as most people. When I was born I swallowed some Meconium. My lungs were clogged up meaning that I had no way of receiving Oxygen. This then meant that when I was born all of my organs failed, these were my heart, my liver, my kidneys, lungs and even my brain couldn't work properly. They tried to bring me back to life by putting Oxygen into my lungs but they burst.
This meant that I needed a chest drain to let the Oxygen flow through my body. I was so ill that the doctors told my parents that the kindest thing that they could do for me was to let me die peacefully. My parents were not ready to do that so I was given a different medicine this then kept me alive.
The next week I nearly died again with Septicaemia and Meningitis. When I went home they did not know if I was going to be able to sit, walk or talk as I could not even swallow.
My Parents have always told me that I should always be grateful to staff in SCBU because they did everything that they could to save my life and have allowed me to become the person that I am today.
The staff at Scbu are still apart of our lives, they have always stayed in touch to see how I am, especially Angie Gorman who has been in my life ever since.
Dr Graham Shortland stayed in touch for many years, he should have discharged me at the age of 2 but saw me regularly until I was 13. He enjoyed telling new Drs about my achievements and how I surprised him more than anybody by leaving hospital at all. They were thrilled to hear I learnt how to walk, talk, read and write and amazed to hear that I played baseball for Wales in 2013.
There are lots of babies in Scbu and will be a lot more in the future. I would like to do my bit and say thank you to the staff on the unit by raising money for them to celebrate my 21st.