Thank you for visiting Owyn’s fundraising page.

Owyn’s story begins back in 2013. After a healthy pregnancy with our first born, Owyn, there was absolutely no reason to ever think anything would or could go wrong. Little did we know what was about to happen and that our life was about to change forever.

On Saturday 23rd November 2013, 5.23am, Melissa gave birth naturally after a day or so in labour. During the later stages of labour, it became apparent to the midwife that Owyn had pooed inside Melissa. The Midwife phoned for a paediatrician as they would need to be there at the birth so they could check him over. From noticing that he had pooed, to Melissa giving birth was only about 30 minutes. Melissa gave birth stood up, with no drugs, gas or air, or anything. One midwife had already referred to Melissa as a "tough northern bird".

Owyn cried immediately (We wished this moment had been recorded because we never got to hear this again) and he was passed straight to the paediatrician. She checked him over and passed him to Melissa, who had a little hold then passed him to Daddy (Kyan). A few moments later Kyan's face went from smiling to worried and he passed him back to the paediatrician. She sounded an alarm and within seconds the room was filled with nurses and doctors doing their utmost to save his life. He was then taken away to the neonatal ward upstairs.

A few hours later we got to visit him. He was on a ventilator and there were a lot of wires and machines. They told us Owyn had suffered from a severe case of Meconium Aspiration Syndrome and they decided that the best course of treatment would be to put him on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) life support. At around 3.00 pm that day he was blue lighted to Great Ormond Street Hospital with his Daddy. Sadly, Melissa couldn't be discharged from hospital. She had to spend the night on the postnatal ward, which felt like the most unnatural thing in the world. She was desperate to be with her newborn baby boy. She was finally discharged the following day and couldn't get to GOSH quick enough!

Owyn spent 16 days at GOSH, where the doctors and nurses worked around the clock to keep Owyn alive - there was a nurse taking care of him 24 hours a day. He was hooked up to an incredible piece of machinery (ECMO) which took over the job of his heart and lungs so he could rest and recover. Unfortunately, by day 15 the Consultant informed us that he would not survive, and we had to make the heart-breaking decision to turn off his life support machine. This was the saddest moment of our entire lives. This wasn’t an easy decision to make, but ultimately, we didn't want him to die alone on a machine - we wanted him to pass away peacefully in our arms.

The next day we were given our own private room for us and our close families to say our goodbyes. We also took this opportunity to Baptise Owyn. The nurses who looked after us this day remained compassionate and professional throughout. They were truly incredible, and we will always be grateful for everything they did for us this day – making sure we had time to hold Owyn (whilst he was on ECMO we never got to hold him in our arms), take photos and handprints and also helped us to give Owyn his first and last bath. These precious moments we will treasure forever.

We felt numb walking out the hospital that evening, knowing our newborn baby was laid sleeping in the hospital morgue. Never in a million years did we believe we would not be able to take our baby boy home. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to mourn as we had to register Owyn's birth and death before he could be released to the children’s hospice we had arranged to stay at whilst we wait for his funeral. Literally running through the streets of Camden - we had less than an hour to do this as it was late in the day and we wanted Owyn to be collected the next day. We collected our paperwork and all our belongings and went on the tube home – arms full of new baby balloons and gifts but no baby to take home.

So why do we want to raise money for GOSH?

This hospital is an incredible place that do truly outstanding miracles for children. The staff are second to none, and without these heroes, so many more would suffer the worst thing in life. There are parents and children right now been cared for and are having their lives saved due the incredible work this hospital is known for. Without this hospital, we wouldn’t have got to spend the 16 precious days we did have with him.

After 10 years of fundraising, the GOSH Charity team suggested we could open a Brighter Future Fund in Owyn’s memory. So here we are…one single fundraising location for anyone who wishes to raise money for GOSH in Owyn’s name. We have a group called Team Owyn. This group is made up of all those who have done something for Owyn over the years. This page brings it all together in one place and as we move forward, we can continue to change the lives of children who seek the care and support form GOSH.

We understand the rise in the cost of living and how money is just not freely available for charities anymore. No donation is ever too small – seriously, we would be more than grateful for a £1. So please, if you can, sponsor whoever is sharing this page doing whichever crazy challenge they’ve taken on for Owyn.

Thank you for reading and as always, thank you all for your support!