Story
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When our son Elijah was 7 weeks old, he caught what we thought was a cold. He got progressively more poorly until the point came that he needed hospital admission.
The doctors tried so many things to help Elijah breath. They remained positive that the treatments they were trying, would be affective but Elijah wasn't responding.
He was diagnosed with bronchiolitis and we were told the only chance he had was to be intubated and transferred to the RVI to be put on a life support machine.
Our world fell apart in that moment. My husband and I watched a crash team of doctors rush into the room and within seconds, had taken our baby away to theatre to be intubated.
Once at the RVI, Michael and I were offered a room in Crawford House. This was a big, beautiful house within the grounds of the RVI where parents of very sick children could stay, so they are close to their children.
This was one of the most terrifying experiences of our lives, but The Sick Children's Trust took the edge off by giving us somewhere warm and comfortable to rest when we weren't at Elijah's bedside.
While Elijah was on life support, I was determined to express my milk so he could have the best possible chance of fighting his illness. In order to feed him, I needed to express my milk ever two hours, day and night. Without a room at Crawford House I wouldn't have been able to do this.
Elijah has since suffered with chest related illnesses, but at the age of 5 his body is now as strong as any other 5 year old. We made it through our nightmare with the help of this amazing charity.
It costs The Sick Children's Trust £40 a night to give parents a room to stay in so they can be near their children in their hour of need.
I would like to raise £500.00. That will allow the charity to cover 12 over night stays to parents who need support.
Words cannot describe the pain these parents are going through and I want to do what I can, to help take the edge off their pain.
Please help me to make this happen. Thank you for taking the time to read Elijah's story.