In July 2022, our daughter was diagnosed with Dysphagia at just 3 months old. This diagnosis didn’t come easy, as the beginning of her life was spent on Lion and Dolphin ward undergoing multiple tests, facing failure to thrive, global development delays, and chronic constipation. The list goes on. By September 2022, she had already undergone two exploratory surgeries at John Radcliffe hospital. In October 2022, she finally came home to her older sister for the first time since she was just a few days old.

Since then, our daughter has had to adapt to living with a Nasal Gastric tube that supports her intake of fluid and nutrition. For nearly three years now, she has been mostly tube-fed and has experienced many lengthy stays in the wards. The future remains uncertain for her; however, I honestly don’t know how we would have navigated these challenging years without the unwavering support and kindness from the nurses and doctors at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. Those nurses who hugged me at 3 am when I was overwhelmed with worry about my baby are worth their weight in gold.

As a family, we now want to take this opportunity to give back to Lion and Dolphin ward. To do this, Chris and Nick are participating in a personal skydiving event—a thrilling 15,000 foot skydive—on June 13th, 2025. Our goal is to raise £1,000 for the Royal Berks Charity to support the children’s wards that have given us so much hope and care.

Please consider donating if you can—no amount is too small or too large. Your generosity will help ensure that other families receive the same incredible support that we did during our most challenging times.