In November 2012 our world changed forever.

Macy was born.  A perfect bundle of cuteness and we all fell in love immediately.

We spent 12 wonderful days together as a family but Macy was actually really sick.  Undetected during pregnancy and birth, Macy had a deadly heart defect - Left Ventricular Non Compaction and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.  She was rushed into The Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea (our nearest specialist heart and lung unit) after a floppy episode at home, and we were given the devastating news that Macy's heart was so bad that the Drs were unsure how she had been born alive.

The world as we knew it for all of us shattered that day.  Macy became a bit of a celebrity as hundreds of people, starting with family and friends, then broadening as people started talking about her, would log on-line for updates on her progress.  Prayer chains were started, candles lit and people thought of her from early morning to bedtime.  She truly was a miracle.

Because she fought with everything she had, the surgeons offered her an operation to try and open her heart and remove the thickened muscle tissue obstructing her ventricles.  She underwent 8 hours of open heart surgery at just 3 weeks old.  The odds were poor that she would make it through the surgery but she had no choice.  She was dying.

She surprised everyone by not only making it through the operation but by fighting her hardest against all the odds every day of her life.

Unfortunately the odds were too high and Macy sadly passed away in her parents arms aged just 6 weeks and 1 day old.

Team Macy was created and together we have so far raised over £32,000 which has been split between The Royal Brompton to help study the genetics of heart defects and The CMA which is a support group for those affected by Cardiomyopathy.  Our aim is to eventually help stop other families from the total devastation of loosing a child to a CHD (congenital heart defect).  It is so important that we continue to raise awareness of this birth defect as although it is 5 times more likely to kill children and babies than all childhood cancers put together, comparatively it has a very small profile and funding.  In the UK alone 12 babies are born with a CHD every single day.

In Macy's name we hope that one day someone's baby has a different ending to ours.

I promised Macy that I would be a better person for her.  I have gotten myself fit, survived every day and hopefully as a family  (including some pretty amazing friends) we have all become stronger and a little more compassionate towards others.

My good friend Tanya and I are lucky enough to secure places in the London Marathon.  We have decided that the money raised over the next few months will go towards the Cardiomyopathy Association.  The CMA fund vital research into cardiomyopathy and support families affected with the disease.  Families like ours.

 In Macy's name we will fight with every heartbeat.  Just as she did.

Please visit our website at www.teammacy.com for more information and start following us on Facebook.

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