On June 4th, myself, my mum and sister are taking part in the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon to raise funds for Crumlin Children Hospital. Thanks to the amazing people in Crumlin, my little Freya is thriving after a difficult start. When Freya was born in December, she seemed absolutely perfect, so when she stopped feeding and waking a few days later we knew something was wrong.  We rushed her straight into A&E and within minutes of arriving, the team sprung to action. Freya had every test imiginable that night including multiple ultrasounds and scans, blood tests, spinal taps etc to ensure the team could quickly get to the bottom of why she was so ill. 

Over the next few days, our worlds were turned upside down as one by one, different teams of doctors and surgeons would come in and tell us the results of the tests they did when she arrived. First team to arrive were the Cardiac team who had unpleasant news to tell us that they found something wrong with her heart. She had a severe Pulmonary Stenosis which would need an operation straight away. Next to arrive we’re the Bowel team who told us that Freya had a rare disease called Hirschsprung's Disease, and that she would also need an operation for this. Finally the Renal team came and told us that she only had one kidney (thankfully it’s seems to be functioning well). While we were getting such upsetting news, we were also surrounded by such amazing and caring people who made it a lot less hard to hear. Surgeons who would be at the end of a very long shift would pop their heads in to me to ask if I’m ok before heading home. Nurses would make sure we didn’t miss out on Freya’s firsts by helping give her baths or moving equipment around so I could hold Freya properly with all the wires attached to her-they would even be fighting over who got to cuddle her while I grabbed something to eat or went for a shower which took a lot of pressure off! A therapist also came in to visit me twice to chat and make sure I was ok after being overwhelmed with bad news. We were there in the weeks leading up to Christmas for her first operation and all you would see was nurses with antlers and Santa hats on, or hearing them sing Christmas songs to children to help the place not seem so scary. We were also there over Easter and the nurses would draw whiskers on to their masks and went around every room handing out Easter eggs.

The nurses in Crumlin go above and beyond each day for their patients! They deserve so much more-they need more staff, more supplies and more appreciation for the work they do. On top of everything they do, they would still need to run to different wards to “borrow” equipment from other nurses because they just didn’t have what they need to do their job. 

We are so so grateful to every person who dedicates their life to caring for others. Freya’s two operations were really successful and we are in such a better place now with such a bright future ahead of her.  

I realise everyone is struggling now with the cost of everything, so if you can’t donate that is completely understandable. I will never be able to repay them for what they have done for Freya, but I hope I can help in some way.