Daisy's Story- 

The Noah's Ark Children’s
Hospital Charity (formerly The Noah’s Ark Appeal) was founded in May 2000 to build, equip and support the first Children’s Hospital for Wales. The hospital was built through public support and fundraising. Initially it was to support just the building itself but now the charity helps to fund specialist departments and equipment. 

Thousands of children and families now use the hospital every year for various reasons and ailments.  It’s a place that you know exists and the great work it does but don’t ever expect to use it. We as a family found out just how amazing they are. 

This is where we found out Daisy had a heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, the condition leads to an extra electrical pathway in the heart that leads to periods of rapid heart rate. If untreated can cause the heart to stop and in a sense burst, there is no way of resuscitation if this does happen.

We found this out bizarrely at an NFU Children’s party where both Barney and her were running around as children do, but Daisy stopped and said her heart was beating really fast and you could see it pumping away in her chest. She also lost her colour, after 15 minutes she calmed down. This episode scared her and the next day she went to the doctors.

 They did an ECG and made a referral to the children’s Hospital and in a very short time she was asked to attend a cardiac clinic especially for children. 

She met a professor and they did various ECG Tests and blood tests and she was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome and we were told if not treated it could have serious consequences.  As you can imagine it was a massive shock to us all that her heart may stop at any time and we may not be able to revive her. The Hospital and staff were amazing, and we were advised of all the help and support they offer. We were given emergency medication straight away in case of an attack and a portable heart monitor was supplied. Every time she has an attack, she has to use the monitor and send the information straight to the Unit so they can tailor the emergency response to
the ambulance service.  They also arranged appointments for Bristol
Children’s hospital to ready us for the operation she needs, unfortunately Cardiff don’t do this kind of operation.

The help, support and response we have had from the hospital has been amazing. It’s
the place you never want to use but are glad they are there when you need then.  From the initial Doctor setting up the appointment to the professor to the staff and support services at the hospital They have been amazing in all that they have done and are doing for other families and us. 

The hospital was created and is only supported by donations from the public and nothing else, so every little amount raised goes straight to the hospital for use to make the lives of those who use it better.

The NFU Mutual Direct team in Cardiff will be walking as many miles as possible with a minimum of 26.2 miles in August! It is a charity very close to ours hearts and not only will we be supporting such a great cause but improving our mentality and fitness!