Many of you know how great the Sheffield Children’s Hospital was to Bodie, Myself and Dan at an extremely tough part of our lives.  So, it’s no surprise that I want to give something back to the Children’s Hospital charity.  

In September I will be scaling the three highest peaks in the UK. Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Scafell Pike. In 24hours.  

My reasons for doing this challenge are; 

I haven’t really stopped, reflected, or fully processed the first 15 months of Bodie’s life or how it had impacted our family so that’s what I’ll be doing, whilst climbing 10,476ft in 24hours. (The lengths us Mums will go to for some peace and quiet!) 

Bodie’s story - what his illness means and how the Childrens Hospital are supporting us through it.Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious illness in which tissues in the intestine become inflamed and start to die. Sadly, three babies a week in the UK die from NEC. We’re very lucky to have Bodie. 

At three weeks old Bodie had his first operation which removed 50% of his large intestine, unfortunately the operation and antibiotics didn’t catch all the infection. His second operation ended up removing over 50% of his small intestine. His third operation came out of the blue, his bowel had perforated, and I needed to give consent to operate over the phone, the risk of sepsis was too high to wait for me to sign the risk paperwork and consent in person. This operation gave Bodie his stoma, but after the several operations in just a matter of weeks, his tummy wouldn’t knit together, this was a hard time for Bodie, he was laid on his back for weeks while the nurses changed his dressings 100’s of times to help infection as his stoma couldn’t have a bag. His fourth operation reversed his stoma.His fifth operation removed his long line and replaced it with a broviac line (an external vein in which Bodie received his nutrition at night)His sixth operation was a gastronomy (feeding tube in his tummy) so no more NG tubes! His seventh removed the broviac line as he was frequently getting infections in it.His eighth saw the broviac line back into his chest as his weight was dropping.His ninth operation removed it again due to infection.

We return monthly to the Children’s hospital for medication reviews, growth checks, full blood counts and consultations with Bodie’s consultant. Every few months we have liver, bowel and abdomen scans too. This will remain like this for the foreseeable future.  

His care plan during those 15 months was a multi-service one involving the nurses, the dietitian’s, a complex care team, speech and language therapists, the doctors, the surgeons, Not to forget the play therapists who did a wonderful job keeping him entertained and developing, or the three house keepers who brought me food and endless coffees!The volunteers on Ward 1 who enabled me to know that Bodie was being cuddled and nurtured when we couldn’t be there. These people stay in touch to see Bodie’s progress 🧡 

The staff at the Children’s hospital don’t know how grateful we are to them. This is my way of trying to show it. We are so fortunate to have such a great hospital and it’s right on our doorstep, most people know of someone who is, or has been treated/looked after by the Children’s hospital whether that is past or present.  

The money raised through donations buys life-saving equipment, funds vital research and treatment for thousands of children from across the world and helps us create a comfortable, engaging environment for the patients at Sheffield Children's Hospital.

A donation for such a worthwhile charity and a message of support would be greatly appreciated firstly by the Children’s hospital and all who work there. Secondly, by all the families who have benefited from the Children’s hospital and those that continue to be supported by them and lastly by myself. 🧡