Smile in a Box ❤

Amy has spent most of her life in and out of hospital often fighting to stay alive. 

 

Her current situation isn't great, she has battled  septicaemia more than 20 times in the last 18 months often resulting in her being admitted to ICU / HDU.  The only way Amy can be helped is to have a Multivisceral  Transplant yet, this has never been done on any person with the problems Amy has.  The biggest concern is whether she would survive and how much it would actually help her.

 

We have certainly learnt that living life in hospital is very tough and often family / friends drop of the radar.  This makes it very lonely and isolating. 

 

We have been in and out of Hospital for a lot of years and I've met so many family's who don't get a single visit of family or a single card,  even whilst in intensive care.  The reason….. family and friends get used to the situation and see hospital admissions as normal.  It's no longer a shock to family, or they simply can't handle the situation anymore,  but I can tell you it only gets harder and more frightening for both the patient and the parents / siblings.

 

A couple of months ago Amy was fighting another bout of sepsis and as her mum I felt particularly scared and alone but on that day I received " a hug in a box" from MOTS (Multi Organ Transplant Support) which was full of practical goodies I could use at the hospital and a card. 

 

I can’t tell you how much that made me smile, it gave me the extra strength I needed to get through that day, it meant more than words can explain.  Amy also received one once she was a bit better and again the smile on her face said it all.

 

We're lucky we have a handful of fantastic family that never stop being there for us but we also have many that no longer and as I experience this myself I want to help families like ours, I want to make them smile even for a moment,  but most of all to let them know that people do care.

 

I am therefore asking for you to help, to let people know that when they are feeling alone and struggling through the day that there are people out there that care, people out there that want to do a small thing to make a tiny difference and people out there who know that helping complete strangers who have significant medical problems can make a massive difference. 

 

Nobody knows what’s around the corner but what we do know is that we all know of somebody where a ‘Smile in Box’ would be so welcomed.

 

The aim is to send a ‘Smile in a box’ to families that need them, families that we’ve met along our own journey but also eventually to get to a position where patients / parents / siblings can be nominated to receive a box.  We anticipate that each box would cost £20.

 

We are in the process of pulling together a website to support this but in the meantime, I’m asking you to donate to this Go Fund Me page so we can get this up and running and to start making a small difference to somebody.