On 29th June 2018 at 11.40pm, our very brave little rainbow warrior lost his fight to live. Leo's journey was fraught with challenges and adversity which not only did he overcome, he did so with a smile on his face. His life may have been short, but the lessons he helped the people who were lucky enough to know him to learn will undoubtedly last a lifetime. Describing Leo as an inspiration doesn't even come close...

Sometime around the end of May Leo contracted a virus which ultimately (whilst relatively harmless to you or I) rendered his lungs unable to diffuse oxygen into his bloodstream. Leo only had a short time in which to try and fight off the virus and for his lungs to begin healing, and sadly it wasn't long enough. However, that short time was effectively 'bought' for him by the staff at the Evelina, who put Leo on an 'ECMO' machine as a last-resort treatment. In basic terms, the type of ECMO that Leo was having is like dialysis for the blood - it was oxygenating his blood and removing carbon dioxide, which kept him alive while we hoped that his little body could find a way to continue his fight. These are incredible machines that save lives, but they aren't the most mobile pieces of technology, which can add significant risk to the lives of patients when moving them to theatre for surgery, or to other departments for scans, or even simply from one ward to another, especially in cases of emergency. To make these movements possible a special 'ECMO bed' is required - but the Evelina has only one of these. We were lucky that it was available when we needed it and they were able to move Leo while he was having his ECMO treatment, even if in our case it wasn't enough to save him. But when their single ECMO bed is in-use, other infant and child ECMO patients are at risk, should the need to move them become critical.

We know that a target of £7,500 is incredibly ambitious, but whatever we are able to raise will be donated to the Evelina London Children's Hospital, to fund (or at least part-fund) a new 'ECMO bed.' Leo was given a chance that other infants and children might not get, so in homage to and in memory of Leo, we are appealing for you to help us increase the Evelina's capacity to move infants and children who are receiving ECMO treatments and fighting for their lives.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for any donations that you are able to offer - together we will be making a difference to the lives of children like Leo. Please help to give them a chance to fight on...