On Sunday 4th April 2027, I will be taking on the challenge of running the 10th anniversary edition of the London Landmarks Half Marathon for a special cause, without the Evelina our beautiful baby girl wouldn’t be here today.

We got told at my 12 week scan her heart was on the right hand side of her body. It was also a mirror image of a ‘normal’ heart, the left chambers being on the right, and the right chambers being on the left.

At 16 weeks we found out that she had coarctation (narrowing) of the aorta which meant she would need open heart surgery as soon as she was born. Without this surgery the blood would not have been able to get to the bottom half of her body, so it was vital.

On surgery day she was 13 days old, nothing can quite prepare you for what it feels like, walking your precious tiny baby down to theatre. 7 hours later we got to see her, the wait was agonising, time went so slow. She spent 3 days in intensive care, followed by 5 days in critical care and then onto Sky ward recovering before we went home when she was around a month old.

Amelia has an unroofed coronary sinus which may mean she needs further open heart surgery in the future - but for now she’s smashing her milestones and being a little champ!

The Evelina will always be part of our family. The help, care and love all the staff show to us and Amelia will never be forgotten. We will forever be grateful to the Evelina and everyone we met along the way.

Thank you for reading and your kind donations❤️