Earlier this year, our Son Baillie, a fit and healthy 18 year old received his booster vaccine. The following days he slowly started to become very ill. After several calls to NHS24, an ambulance being sent out and a visit to our Doctors he was finally admitted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He was in a lot of pain and was quickly transferred to Intensive Care after a CT scan revealed he had developed clots on his spleen, heart and other organs. Terrifyingly his body was shutting down with an autoimmune response to the vaccine. Without the swift intervention of the Haematology Specialists and the amazing care from the ICU Doctors and Nurses he may not have pulled through. Even with all their help we were told that his chance of survival was just 50/50! He received multiple steroid infusions to try and mop up the clots and over the next 3 days he received 3 plasma transfers.  In each of these transfers they removed 80% of his blood, separated his plasma, exchanged it for donor plasma and returned it back to him. Thankfully his body responded well to the combined treatments and was transferred up to the Haematology ward which is where we first met the Friends of Anchor Nurse. She really made every effort to ensure he was as comfortable as possible and she also delivered the Anchor care parcel which was a really nice touch. Baillie said they always checked in on him when were away making sure he was OK and asking him if he needed anything to help him pass the time. This included the offer of TV's and console being wheeled in to his room. Baillie's great care continued and we eventually got him home but he was to still remain on blood thinners for the foreseeable future. However, at the end of June we got the fantastic news after some more tests that he could stop his blood thinners and go back to leading a normal life. 

Baillie's attitude during and since it all happened has been so positive. He has focused on getting healthier, stronger and to not be bitter. He is an inspiration to us all. 

Getting better was Baillie's challenge...Here is what Tim Pearey, Kenny Kelly , Eddie Bowe and I are undertaking on 22nd-24th Sept to raise funds for Friends of Anchor as way of our thanks for getting him home. 

For the past decade we go away once a year (this is a challenge in itself). We have all been the best of friends since School and we have had some great trips. The banter is always relentless, however, so is the love and support for each other as we navigate our way through life. Obviously when Baillie got unwell, these guys were a huge help to us. When I mentioned about raising money for the charity that had helped him, a plan was hatched very quickly to change our usual alcohol fuelled weekend into a fundraiser challenge. So GB22 was born (I'll post up a video in due course where the name of the challenge comes from). We are going to mountain bike The Great Glen Way (all off road) from Inverness to Fort William with an overnight stop in Fort Augustus which in total is approx 130 km and a total climb of 1370 m. On the Third day we will climb UK's highest peak Ben Nevis 1345 m. So for some mid 40 year old guys with Dad Bods this is going to be a fair challenge. You can already imagine the descent of Ben Nevis will be 4 guys falling downhill with style!! None of us would class ourselves as elite athletes, some of us peaked physically in high school and others well...the less said the better! Whatever happens, wind, rain or shine we will give it everything to complete this challenge and do it with smiles and grimaces!

Baillie would like the money we raise will go towards Anchor buying hand held games consoles for the younger patients who are receiving treatment in the wards. Now that we have raised a lot more than we anticipated, we will brainstorm with the Charity to see where best to invest the funds.

We know that money is tight just now so please only donate if you can afford to do so!!

Every single penny raised will go to Friends of Anchor as their admin costs are covered by Balmoral Group. We will be covering all our own expenses.