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Wye Valley Challenge · 23 October 2022

It's bewildering and unsettling for anyone going into hospital but especially for children and that is why we are a fundraising hospital. We raise funds to enhance the experience of our patients by providing state of the art medical equipment and facilities and creating a child-friendly environment.

Story

A group of our incredible friends have agreed to join us as we walk in memory of our twin baby girl Florence River Wilkins. We will walk 15 miles of the Wye Valley for Birmingham Children's Hospital who supported our family during Florence's life. Me and my friend, Sam Hull, will also be competing in the South Devon Endurance Life Half Marathon. Having never run more than 5k in my life, this will be a tough one for me personally - so please support where you can :)

Read our family story here:

Many of you know that Ryan and I found out we were expecting toward the end of summer 2021. We were delighted to find at our 13 week scan that we were lucky enough to be expecting identical twins!

Following our 20 week scan we were told that there was something wrong with one of our twins and we received an antenatal diagnosis of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. We were told that our twin would need open heart surgery in the first few days of life and often with twins arriving early that meant our baby may not be big enough or mature enough to handle the surgery.

On the 4th April after a traumatic experience of a pre-eclampsia diagnosis, issues with high blood pressure and two surgeries our beautiful twin girls were born and we welcomed Poppy Belle and Florence River Wilkins into the world weighing 5lbs 4 each.

Florence was doing well at this point and we had passed the milestone of 36 weeks meaning the doctors felt she was a good candidate for the surgery. The stars had aligned and we felt we had to give her a shot at life.

Florence spent 6 weeks in the ICU and her recovery was rocky throughout. Ryan, Poppy and I were well looked after by the nurses, doctors and surgeons who we got to know well visiting the hospital most days to be by Florence's side. Our brave girl fought hard but sadly did not make it home. Florence passed away in our arms. We walk to remember Florence and to help make a difference to all those who use the hospital that treats some of the sickest children and babies in the UK

Your fundraising helps to make the hospital feel more like a home and provides support to other families just like ours. Thanks for taking the time to read our story.... now dig deep :)

Donation summary

Total
£500.00
+ £120.00 Gift Aid
Online
£500.00
Offline
£0.00

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