Arthur's Army

Hi, I'm Josh.

I'm completing three events over the course of the year to raise money and give back to Tiny Tickers, Alder Hey ward 1c and Blackpool Vic Children's Ward all of whom have helped, and continue to help, ourselves and Arthur throughout his journey with his Congenital Heart Defect. The money raised will be equally split between the three recipients, so we want to raise as much as possible. I have set an initial target of £1000 but ideally I'd like to give each recipient £1000 each.

Arthurs story:

In January 2022, when my wife was 20 weeks pregnant with Arthur, we went for the routine 20 week scan in which we were told he had a possible hole in his heart. Following more scans at St Marys hospital in Manchester, it was confirmed Arthur had complete AVSD, a hole in the middle wall of his heart, running from top to bottom. At this point we were advised to get in touch with Tiny Tickers, a charity who provide training, counselling and equipment with the sole purpose of helping babies and families with CHD diagnoses. TT have provided counselling and continued advice to us during this journey. Not only this, without their training Arthur's CHD may have gone undetected until he was older which may have put his body under unnecessary pressure. For this reason we want to raise money to give back to them so they can continue the work they do.

Due to Arthurs heart condition he is more susceptible to chest infections and poor health. Something we deal with on a daily basis but which was truly evident when he went in for a minor grommet operation in February this year. Normally children are in and out within one day for this operation, unfortunately for Arthur nothing is this simple and he ended up in hospital on the amazing children's ward at Blackpool Vic, on oxygen for 6 days after he contracted a serious chest infection and struggled to come around from the anaesthetic. The staff on this ward are amazing and helped us and Arthur immensely during his time there, even letting Delilah run riot in their play room when we had no childcare for her. So to give back, we are also raising money for the children's ward to help them continue to do the amazing work they do.

Arthur is due to have surgery to repair his hole in his heart and a possible repair on his valve should it be required. During this surgery his chest will be opened, heart will be stopped, he will be put onto a bypass machine, heart 'fixed' and then restarted. It is unimaginable to think he will be having his heart stopped, but we have to trust the surgeons will work their magic and he will be absolutely fine.

After a (hopefully) short stay on HDU he will be transferred to ward 1C, a ward dedicated to cardiac patients at Alder hey, where they will nurse him back to health. I know the team there work tirelessly to help patients but also the parents, so we want to donate money to them to give back to them in any way possible.

To raise as much money as possible I will be completing three challenges this year:

1. Triathlon 24/03/2024

2. Tough mudder 13/07/2024

3. Half marathon 01/09/2024

Please help me to raise as much money as possible and help the three recipients.

We will also keep you updated of Arthurs journey as we go through the year.

Thank you

Josh

Arthurs Army