Back in March 2023 when our son Frankie was just 6 weeks old, he started with a little cough which we thought initially was just a cold. He drastically went downhill within less than 24 hours and we took him to A&e where they told us he had bronchiolitis which we didn’t know much about. We asked lots of questions and we did our own research to find that this is usually developed by catching a cold (usually RSV) which then causes inflammation of the bronchioles in the lungs causing a restriction of breathing due to a build up of mucus blocking the airways.

At Wigan hospital Frankie was looked after by the amazing staff on the rainbow ward. The staff cared for him at Wigan for 12 hours observing him carefully and supporting him with oxygen however, he was so poorly that a doctor made the crucial decision that they needed to transfer him quickly to a larger hospital where they had specialist staff and ventilation equipment as he was critically ill.

Frankie was transferred to Manchester children’s hospital that evening by the NWTS team who transfer infants and children whose destination is a paediatric unit. The team were absolutely brilliant, they talked us through the whole process from start to finish, they supported us and reassured us that Frankie would be safe in the ambulance with all the additional equipment he needed for the journey.

We were blue lighted to Manchester children’s hospital and were greeted by all the amazing staff who again provided us with so much support and ensured us that they would do their absolute best to look after and care for Frankie whilst he was so poorly. He was on the PICU (paediatric intensive care unit) for 9 days where we were unable to hold him for several days due to him being ventilated and heavily sedated so he could rest and recover.

During this extremely traumatic time we can honestly say that every single staff member who looked after Frankie is an absolute credit to Manchester Children’s Hospital. It was 1-1 care 24 hours a day with specialist doctors on hand all day to support you whenever you needed them to answer any questions or for any additional support. We were offered a free counselling service should we need to make use of this and we were put up at the Ronald McDonald House for the duration of Frankie’s hospital admission so we did not need to leave the hospital grounds.

As I’m sure you can imagine this was such a distressing time for us and our families, the worst time we have faced but we could not fault the care, support and treatment provided to Frankie and also for us as parents that we received from Manchester Children’s Hospital. We were able to see family members outside the hospital at a breakout area and there was both an outdoor and indoor play area where we could have some much needed time with Billy.

We have always wanted to raise some funds to help other children and families in these extremely difficult situations as it is every parent’s worst nightmare that your child is critically ill or requires a hospital admission for any other reason.

We are extremely grateful that Frankie was such a strong warrior who fought so hard to get better and we count our blessings everyday. We are also so fortunate that we had such incredible specialist staff caring for him when he urgently needed it at Manchester Children’s Hospital.

We will be walking a 2km with Frankie and Billy and family members on Saturday 9th November to give something back to the MFT charity as this charity is closest to our hearts. We also plan to continue to participate in the charity’s annual events in the future to support them.

If you could please help support us to raise money for this fabulous charity by donating even just a few pounds, we would really appreciate it.

Thank you

Naomi & Adam x.

Our smiley, happy boy in September 2024 enjoying his holiday at Center Parcs :)