We are fundraising for The Brompton Fountain, a charity which supports the Paediatric Units at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital where Aaron had his life saving open heart surgeries. The money raised will go towards purchasing heart monitors for the paediatric ward each costing £6,000 and they need to purchase a total of 19 heart monitors. So please dig deep or whatever you can spare as every penny counts.

Our little heart warrior son, Aaron Dhruv Smith was born  on 2nd July 2015. He was born with a congenital heart disease (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, Two holes in the heart and a Coarctation of the Aorta) which required surgery when he was just 5 days old. Nearly 5 years down the line and 3 open heart surgeries later we have a thriving young man who is full of energy, love and love for life all thanks to the amazing Royal Brompton Hospital and the wonderful Brompton Fountain who enabled us to be close to our baby at tough time and were there with support and care when we needed it the most!! 

Our Story
When we first found out at 29 weeks pregnant that our baby had a heart condition our world came crashing down on us. How can an unborn baby have a heart condition? Why does OUR baby have it? What has caused this? What will happen now? were just some of the questions that were racing around in our minds. Uncertainty set in and we were lost as to what to do and what would happen. This is when we were referred to the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital. The anti-natal cardiology team Dr Vicky Jovett and Julietta took wonderful care of us explained everything and were at hand to answer any questions we had. With 6 weeks to go we along with other expecting parents were invited to the Anti-Natal classes run by the Brompton Fountain. They discussed what to expect, shared success stories, showed us equipment which was available to express breast milk and other parents who have been through it were there to talk to. We were given a guided tour of the paediatric units at Brompton which would become home for a while once our baby was born. All this doesn't sound much but it gave us an insight on what to expect, put our minds at ease and answered a lot of the questions we had.

The waiting game
We were told that I would need to be induced so that they have a more controlled and safe delivery. We spent 3 days going to the hospital waiting to welcome our baby but there weren't any beds available at the Brompton. On 1st July 2015 we were told to go home and rest and to call the following morning to check if a bed was available... But this is not what the little one wanted in the wee hours on Thursday 2nd July 2015 I went into labour and our little man was born at 4:50pm at Queen Charlotte Hopital. He was then taken into the Neonatal unit of the hospital and that same night was transferred to Royal Brompton with his daddy. Aaron was admitted to PICU and everything was explained to Daddy (Brad) he was given a key to a room (provided by The Brompton Fountain) just 2 floors up and I joined them the following afternoon. We met the wonderful cardiologist Dr Michael Rigby who explained to us what the plan was for Aaron and how he was doing.

The big O day
Tuesday 7th July 2015 what was the longest day of our lives. Aaron had his first open heart surgery. We were in PICU early to give our baby boy surgical wash and cuddles before surgery. Everything was explained to us and at around 8:30am we went down to theatre and handed our little boy over to the anaesthetists and watched him slowly drift to sleep we kissed him goodbye and spent the next 13 hrs aimlessly passing time, wondering through the hospital and staring at blank walls. At 9pm we were told Aaron was back in PICU and the surgery was a success. The 'Amazing' surgeon Mr Guido Michielon spoke to us and told us exactly what was done and that he was happy with his work. He told us the surgery was a success but the next 24 hrs were critical. Aaron was ventilated and tubes and lines coming out from everywhere with an open chest. We were so scared to touch him that we may hurt him and cause damage but his bedside nurse was fantastic, she showed us what we can do, how we can care for him, reassured us and answered all our questions at the same time as running around Aaron's bed carrying out checks. The following morning we got a call that Aaron has gad a cardiac arrest. We rushed down to PICU and once again the amazing Brompton team had worked their magic and saved our beautiful boys life. From this point it was upwards and onwards.

We spent a total of 1 & 1/2 months living at the Brompton and cannot express how thankful we are to The Brompton Fountain for providing facilities which enabled us to be with our son and how amazing and fantastic all the staff are at the hospital. Subsequently Our little heart warrior had his second surgery in January 2016 and third & final surgery in January 2020 both went fantastically well. Thanks to the amazing work of the Surgeons, Doctors, Consultants, Registrars, Junior Doctors and the exceptional care of the Nurses, Nursery Nurses, the Playteam and The Brompton Fountain Aaron made full recovery and is going from strength to strength. The Brompton Hospital SAVED our sons life and The Brompton Fountain helped us as a family and we are truly thankful and forever indebted to them.

During our time at the Brompton we have made some good friends and met some amazing and inspirational families whose strength and positivity is unbelievable. We find ourselves being part of an elite group 'The Brompton Family' which no one would have imagined or wanted to be in but are now proud to be part of.

We are also thankful to all the messages, prayers and support we have received which saw us through a time which we never imagined we would go through.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story and your support is much appreciated.

Team Super Aaron 💙💙

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.