Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page, here is a little bit about our story.

On July 5th 2016 our world was turned upside down when our little girl became incredibly sick, with that she was taken to Colchester general hospital where we were given the devastating news that Polly had CHD.

CDH is the abbreviated name for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. ‘Congenital’ means born with , ‘Diaphragmatic’ means of or affecting the diaphragm; which is a thin sheet of muscle that helps us to breath and keeps our chest and stomach contents separate. ‘Hernia’ is a general term used to describe a ‘bulge’ or ‘protrusion’ of an organ, for example the stomach, through the structure or muscle that usually contains it. CDH occurs in approximately 1 in 2500 births and accounts for around 8% of all major congenital abnormalities.
There is no rm evidence that it occurs more in one particular sex. However, some studies have suggested that males are more commonly affected than females with a ratio of 3:2. Familial clusters (running in families) have been observed in less than 2% of cases and the risk in future pregnancies is said to be 2%. There is currently no known cause or risk factor, but studies have suggested that it is probably multifactorial, meaning there maybe a number of factors involved including environmental and genetic.
The diaphragm normally develops in your
unborn baby by around the 7-10 week gestation period of your baby’s development and CDH occurs when the diaphragm fails to form correctly or fails to develop in your unborn baby, allowing the abdominal contents to herniate into the chest cavity, which in turn prevents the lungs from developing properly. Depending upon
at what stage the abdominal contents
(also referred to as ‘Viscera’) herniated,
how much, and the size of the hole in
the Diaphragm will determine how much your unborn baby’s lungs and other internal organs, such as the heart, have been affected.

There is currently a 50% survival rate of this condition, and a 50% chance that a child will develop ongoing problems breathing or heart conditions.

Polly was so so lucky to make it to 14 weeks alone and the hospital were quite astonished as were we ❤️

As you can imagine being told your child needs a serious operation as soon as possible to save her life and that there is a huge chance she may not pull through is absolutely devastating. 

Upon that we were shorty rushed to Addenbrookes hospital  in Cambridge where the operation would take place We waited hours over night till morning when the time came to take her away.

Amongst all of this me and my husband were beside ourselves as we were wondering how on earth we were going to stay with our baby as the journey is a few hours away should we need to rush to her bedside at any time ASAP it’s painful to think that we would be hours away from her. 

The sick children’s trust provided us with a “home from home” somewhere to stay which is just a short walk away from the ward where our daughter was. They provided us with facilities to cook, shower, clean towels, laundry facilities and a place to try and unwind.

Without this we wouldn’t be able to be beside our daughter at her time of need and either would other families, on the walls of Acorn house are stories of how this amazing charity has helped so many families be with their children and on our stay we met so many parents that were so grateful to this charity just like us who would be lost without the work they do and what they provide! 

I would like to give something back to these incredible people and help fund a room for other parents to use or to buy things that they so desperately need to help other families. 

Our Pollyanna is now 19 months old and fighting fit, she was so incredibly lucky to have no ongoing conditions and she has had the all clear! she is our little miracle ❤️

So I am running the Manchester Marathon 2018 8th April  for this incredible charity 

Thankyou for reading our story, and please donate however small it will all go to help this amazing charity