Thanks for taking the time to visit Daniel's JustGiving page. Why don’t you grab yourself a snack and have a read of Daniel’s story?

Hiya, my name’s Daniel and I was born via emergency Caesarean section on 10th April 2014 at 9:33 AM, weighing 3 lbs 2 oz. My mum was 28 weeks and 5 days pregnant when she went into labour, lots of people have said I was a good weight for my age. 
However, Mum delivering me was a rough ride and the trauma shocked me so much my heart stopped. I didn’t have a heart beat for 11 minutes, but the pediatric doctors did an amazing job and managed to resuscitate me. 

Needless to say, I was taken straight to the NICU and put into an incubator where the doctors and nurses attached me to all the relevant monitors and drips. My dad was so scared, he says he just wanted to scoop me up and run away with me, but he knew he had to just step back and let the medical team do what was best. 

Dad says, “You hear a lot about babies being born preterm and so small, but you don’t really think about it until you see your own child lying in an incubator, so tiny and fragile.” What’s more, I bet you think all babies born preterm will have an incubator to lie in? Well, I was actually extremely lucky to arrive when I did because there was only one left and I was in no fit state to travel to another hospital.

Whilst in the NICU, I (and all the other babies in here, of course) receive 24/7 care and attention from a dedicated nurse. The doctors, nurses, consultants and even the cleaners all play a vital role in the smooth and effective running of the ward. The care and love from everyone in the ward is second to none, so thank you all.

It wasn’t until I had been in here for a few days that my dad really got to grips with it all (it’s not his fault I suppose, he had expected another 11 weeks or so to get ready for my arrival) and started to understand what all the equipment was for. Also, to appreciate the role each piece played in my support. This recognition motivated him to do some more research. He then realised the true extent of the time and care I need right now, plus the cost of providing it.  

The monitors to keep an eye on my vitals cost £15,000 (that’s a half decent new car), add on to that the other equipment and the incubator then the cost shoots up to £90,000 (that’s a decent 1 bed flat, at least). To keep me safe in here it costs £1,200 per day, which is more than my parent’s monthly bills. My dad said, “You better not get used to expensive hotel stays.”


As a way of saying thank you, my parents would like to help raise money for the new machines and rooms the ward would like. The charity has received so much help already, they know, but with the number of babies needing special care they feel no amount is too much. 

Oh, by the way, did you get yourself that snack before you started to read my story? Either way, how about donating the cost of your next snack to the NICU fund instead?  Go on, be a devil, that quid or two will mean the world to us. 
All I and my parents ask is for everyone to donate a small amount. To help raise the funds needed for the new machines and space for more cots/incubators to accommodate more babies. Additionally, to help build a place for parents who live many miles away to reside in and enable them to remain with their child during heartbreaking times.


(08/06/14) update.

Because of the lack of oxygen to Daniels brain he has suffered with a bleed, this has caused damage to the brain. He has been having regular ultrasounds to monitor the damage, the doctors feel the bless stopped and we have seen the worse of it. He has an MRI booked for in the week to get a more detailed picture. It's not easy to be sat down and told and it's taken some time to deal with the news and understand what it all means. Although we won't know the extent of the damage and what he will suffer with he will always be loved by everyone and will have the best support around.

Thanks for reading my story; your donation will help us to achieve our goal, which is the £1,200 it cost to support me in here for just one of the days I’ve been so well cared for. It’s not much, on the scale of things, but as my parents will continue to teach me, “Every little helps.”

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