Firstly, thank you for visiting my just giving page. I unfortunately missed out on the London Marathon for April of next year, in the ballot and in terms of a charity place but I wanted to do something, so I am running the Cambridge Half Marathon and hope to try again for the London Marathon in 2016.

My story begins in February 2013. My Nan passed away on the 3rd of February unexpectedly from an underlying heart condition and 10 days later my Grandad died from complications after a heart attack.

My brother and I were the only grandchildren and we were very close to them throughout our lives, their deaths completely broke us. My grandfather spent his final days in Harefield hospital where their care for him was second to none. They allowed us free visiting hours, his own private room and even allowed his dog (Pip) to visit him on the ward the day before he died. I have never heard of a hospital so wiling to accommodate a family in the way they did that week and I will be eternally grateful. The whole experience was harrowing as we weren’t entirely sure what would happen to my Grandad but another heart attack as imminent. The doctors kept us informed throughout the week with daily meetings and the nurses were there as a shoulder to cry on numerous occasions. My granddad passed away on the 18th from a heart rupture despite the doctors best efforts; they even considered emergency surgery despite the heart already being so damaged from the original heart attack. His heart did truly break from my Nan’s death.

The days after this were a blur, attempting to arrange a double funeral, plus comforting my mother who was an only child  who had lost both her parents in two weeks whilst dealing with my own grief. This sequence of events would be enough for me to want to raise thousands for Harefield but our relationship with the hospital as unbeknown to us, would last much longer.

Two days after my Grandad passed away my Dad and brother visited the GP. With our emotions heightened and after losing two members of our close family, Billy (my brother) wanted to see what was wrong with his heart. He had been suffering with chest pains on exertion and migraines on and off throughout his life. The GP first dismissed Billy’s concerns as just a symptom of excessive grief yet as soon as she placed a stethoscope on his chest her face quickly changed. He was taken to Addenbrokes for further tests with a suspected heart murmur. Once again we were in a hospital environment and the prospect of there being an issue with Billy’s heart was hard to comprehend after everything we had been through. The cardiologist in Addenbrookes emergency department dealt with us extremely badly. He was rude, pompous and belittled our concerns. He told us Billy was not in danger and although his heart rhythm wasn’t ‘textbook’ our concerns were unnecessary and probably ‘just’ a product of grief. He put Billy down on a long waiting list for an exercise test just to put our minds at rest (in a patronising tone!). We were very quickly moved on from A and E department and persuaded to go home.

We weren’t happy with this diagnosis and felt there was definitely something wrong. We rang Harefield in desperation, not really sure what to expect. After forming a close relationship with the staff whilst they looked after my Grandad they passed on our story and concerns to an ECHO consultant. Immediately they rang us, and saw Billy within a couple of days. Once again Harefield had made us feel like humans rather than just a number or statistic. Our consultant did everything she could in order for us to feel at ease that Billy was in the best possible care. The NHS at its finest!

After the ECHO (echocardiogram) scan, it was confirmed that Billy has a serious underlying heart condition and would need open heart surgery in order to survive. He was diagnosed was a bicuspid aortic valve which needed to be replaced.

This condition would not have been picked up in an exercise test  which was prescribed by Addenbrookes as Billy’s heart was over compensating for it’s weakness and his heart dealt with exercise well. If he had continued treatment at Addenbrookes my brother would not be alive today as they would have never detected the problem. His aorta would have ruptured and he would have died almost instantly.

Billy underwent open heart surgery at Harefield in November of last year. His surgeon was incredible and from the start to the end of his treatment the staff in all departments, from ICU to the wards were very supportive. He was the youngest patient who had ever had the condition in the hospital and he was special in many peoples eyes. He was discharged in record time, in just 5 days! A first for the hospital. Although his recovery would take almost a year in total, the time he spent in hospital was as comfortable as it could be. The surgeon told us if Billy had not had the surgery when he did he would not have made it into 2014 as his valve was extremely damaged and close to rupture.

I cannot express my feelings fully towards this amazing hospital. We were treated with respect, treated professionally and fully informed throughout the process both with my brother and my grandfather. They bent over backwards in order for us to feel looked after. I will be eternally grateful to this hospital for enabling my brother to live. Without the amazing surgeons, consultants and nurses  he would definitely not be here today completing his  A-levels and hoping to start university with a long fruitful life ahead of him! Please please donate any money you do have! The NHS is always attempting to close smaller hospitals such as Harefield which provide specialist care in favor of larger General hospitals such as Addenbrookes. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Now I had better get training!

Love

Holly

xxx