The Little Magpie Fund was launched to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children by Eva and Obi Asika, in memory of their son, Magnus Asika.

Our story:

Magnus, or Magpie as we call him, was our utterly beautiful, brave little boy who sadly passed away at 9 months old in July 2022 due to an extremely rare heart condition in babies called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Magnus was a patient at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) for the majority of his life. Here he received First Class care and support, and we as a family are eternally grateful to the wonderful staff and workers who cared for him with integrity and ultimately love.

When we heard about a new pilot scheme GOSH required funds for we knew we wanted to help. The hospital need to raise £350,000 for piloting an important new unit for patients who require more enhanced and complex care than standard ward patients, but who are not so unwell that they need to be treated on an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) which will sit alongside the High Dependency Units (HDU). HDUs are wards for patients who need more intensive observation, treatment and nursing care than is possible in a general ward, but slightly less than that given in ICU.

Little Magnus would have really benefitted from this alternative type of unit so having the opportunity to help raise the funding to put this in place couldn't be closer to our hearts. Children and their parents are going through unimaginable times this very moment, and units like this will make a real change for some of the patients who require the most care.