Martin House supports children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families, across West, North and East Yorkshire. Our vision is that every child and young person has access to palliative care when and where they need it.

We found out we were expecting a little boy in February 2021.

Our little Joey was born prematurely and very tiny for his age via emergency c-section at 33 weeks.

Day one, “smashing it!” They said.

However, on day two we were rushed to Leeds children’s hospital following a routine heart scan revealing huge heart defects.

Here Leeds cared for him and us for a whole month, in which time Joey gained little to no weight. It’s was here we found out that he did in fact have a life limiting condition that would prevent him from gaining enough weight to fix his heart defects (operate).

It was here that Martin House saved us. We were told that once palliative care had started he would pass away within 6-12 hours.

4 days passed and our little Joey wasn’t quite ready to leave us. He wanted to see more of the world. He met his little sister, close family and wanted to spend more time as a family, which Martin House enabled us to do. They gave us our own room, a proper little home from home. They allowed us to live as a proper family unit of four for as long as possible. They allowed us to make precious keeps sakes and make memories to last a life time; From music therapy; messy play; meeting Father Christmas; exploring the vast grounds and experiencing the amazing winter wonderland. Incredible. They provided us with delicious meals, snacks and cakes that were out of this world, they even did our laundry. They allowed us to live in every moment by taking away everyday chores that would usually go unnoticed. On top of all that they provided us with medical and emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which in turn allowed us to take our little Joey home, something we never thought possible, again allowing us to live a ‘normal’ life and make many more memories.

We cannot thank Martin House enough for the care and support they provided us with during our little Joey’s short life and after. They truly are incredible!

The Holliday's