Connect the Gregory's

Max Gregory was born on 2 January 2020, the fourth child to Lee and Carly Gregory both serving in the RAF, and littlest brother to Ethan, Ffion and Darcy. He's six weeks old now but still hasn't left his hospital bed ... YET! He's fighting hard and getting stronger every day so the day will come. This is his story. At the 20 week scan Max was diagnosed with Hypo-Plastic Left Heart Syndrome (HPHS), which is very serious illness with only a 50% chance of him making it to his 3rd birthday (Source: GOSH Consultant Statistics). The condition means that only the right side of his heart has formed correctly. This significantly reduces his heart's ability to pump the necessary blood around to the rest of his vital organs and without medical intervention he would most definitely die. Whilst the condition is rare (1 in every 5000 births in the UK) there is no known reason for its cause. He will require three open-heart surgeries (Norwood, Glen and Fontan) before he is 3 years old, the first of these operations needed to take place at approximately 3-4 days old (without it Max would have died). After arriving earlier than expected on 2 January at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridgeshire, Max was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), London the same day after his heart rate sky rocketed and they couldn't bring it down. Cue the first of many trips to London for Carly and Lee. GOSH stabilized Max and made him, and his parents, as comfortable as possible. Max's first few days were a count down to his first major surgery. At six days old Carly and Lee kissed him goodbye to have his heart surgery where he was under from 8am to 3.45pm - a entire working day nearly but probably felt like a lifetime. The operation went well but they had to leave his chest open should they need to restart his heart. This turned out to be needed as his heart stopped for 2-4 minutes that night, but thankfully was started again successfully. He's had countless terrifying drops in blood pressure and has fought through it all with his parents at his side, and his family rooting for him. The past weeks have been a steady two paces forward and one back with more surgery to close his chest, tubes removed then one put back in, drugs reduced then some ramped back up again. An emotional rollercoaster that cannot be appreciated or imagined. While being present and fighting for Max every step of the way, Carly and Lee have had to split their time between London and Cambridgeshire, where they live. They've had to make the decision to travel home to see their other children, who also need them, to then race back to London to be with their son, who is weeks old and fighting to get stronger. They've had to wait weeks to hold him properly and are still waiting to feed him his first bottle as he is not there yet. He's expected to stay in GOSH for the next few months minimum, but anything up to 6 months is feasible. That is a long time to be away from their other 3 children for extended periods and even harder to leave Max behind and not be able to bring him home. This fund is for anyone who feels they want to help Carly and Lee to relieve the pressure and stress to stay connected and present for all their children. The fund will be used for travel costs to London and back, food at the hospital, travel for Ethan, Ffion and Darcy to come and visit their favourite youngest brother and anything else that might go towards helping make this difficult time a little easier to bear. Thank you in advance for anything you can give and please think of the Gregory's at this difficult time.