I am participating in the Tandem Skydive 2024 on the 13th of July to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

This charity holds a special place in my heart.

In November 2018, my daughter who was 6 at the time had a brain tumor and spent two weeks in the hospital. Fortunately, I was able to stay at the RMHC in Camberwell.

Lillie had constant headaches and blurred vision, she had a lot of time off school due to this, i took her for an eye test at our local opticians who referred her to hospital for an mri scan, we spent most of the day their when we were told they were liasing with kings college hospital in london as they had found something but thats all they told us, Later that night we got transferred to kings college hospital by ambulance.

The following day she had tests done and we were then told she needed an operation, we then were told that she had a brain tumour but until they operated they couldnt tell us how serious it was.

Luckily it was benign so it wasnt cancerous, it was the size of a satsuma.

Fast forward 6 years on she is doing amazing and is now 12 years old with no added complications, she also now wears glasses, she was really lucky, how i stayed strong through that time was so tough.

In 2022 i unfortunately lost my mum to cancer, a few months later i found out i was expecting, At my 20 week scan i was told that my baby had something wrong with his heart and was referred to st thomas hospital in london, and that he had a heart condition vacteral ring and right artiotic duct

For 15 weeks of my pregnancy i was to and from st thomas.

i later found out that my unborn son had a condition called vacterl.

VACTERL is an acronym made up of the first letters of the main symptoms that make up the condition:

Vertebral defects

Anorectal anomalies

Cardiac defects

Tracheo-oesphageal fistula/oesophageal atresia

Renal abnormalities

Limb abnormalities

Some children may be described as having VATER association instead of VACTERL association if they do not have any cardiac defects or limb abnormalities.

Harry tried making his early apperance at 25 weeks however after spending 1 week in hospital in brighton he held on for another 10 weeks and made his apperance 5 weeks early, he weighed 4lbs 130zs, by emergency c section.

when he was born he was perfect, with his condition drs told me that harry may have a lot of complications and he may not come out crying due to his heart condition and he may not be able to be placed on me,

however he defied all the odds, when he was 2 days old he had an operation as he was born without a bottom and had to have a stoma bag, that has now been reversed, he only has 1 kidney and has scoliosis.

1 year on harry is doing amazing reaching all his milestones.

Again i found support at the Evelina House for 2 weeks.

These houses provide free 'home away from home' accommodation for families with children undergoing treatment in hospitals.

They offer more than just a place to stay; they provide family activities, peer support, respite, and various services.

This means that families can be by their child's bedside within moments while maintaining some normalcy amidst emotional and financial strain. Over 6,000 families are helped each year, and now more than ever, we need your support to continue this vital work.

RMHC are not spoken about enough and i feel this is a charity that needs to be spoken about, until i stayed in 2 of their houses i never knew what they were about, its like my 2nd home and each and every member of staff always go above and beyond, their support is amazing.

I cant wait to participtate in this amazing cause and give something back to these amazing people, thank you so much