Our daughter Aoife was born on 12th October 2020. All seemed well and we were excited to get home and start life as a family of five, however when we were about to be discharged from hospital they noticed that her blood oxygen levels were low. After a night in neonatal and various tests she was diagnosed with a serious heart condition (Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection) that would require open heart surgery in Dublin. This came as a major shock and we were devastated, but the staff at the Ulster Hospital were fantastic in guiding us through this difficult time.

Aoife was then transferred to Clark Clinic in The Royal Hospital who look after children with Congenital Heart Disease in Northern Ireland. She spent a few more nights in hospital under the care of the great doctors and nurses on the ward, but was thankfully discharged home while we waited for her surgery.

Aoife's operation took place on 27th November at the Children's Health Ireland Hospital in Dublin when she was just over 6 weeks old. This was a really difficult week but we are extremely grateful to the hospital staff who were with us every step of the way.

Thankfully, the results of Aoife's operation have so far been positive and she continues to recover and look brighter every day.

To try and show our gratitude for the support that we have received, we have decided to fundraise by walking/running 300km - the distance from our house to Crumlin Hospital in Dublin and back again.

This challenge will raise vital funds for the essential & life-saving work that happens in CHI at Crumlin. Please support us if you can.

Sinead & Matthew Nicholson