Half marathon for Tiny Tickers

Alfie’s story.

At our 20-week scan, our sonographer was having trouble getting pictures of Alfie’s heart. We had no idea our lives were about to be turned upside down. After around 15 minutes, a different sonographer looked at our baby’s heart and, after some time, told me she wasn’t seeing what you would expect to see. I was told there may be a problem with our baby’s heart, and we would need to be referred for a scan with Birmingham.

We had a week and half of waiting and worrying, and on the day we went for our next scan. I still remember the silence being so loud as we waited for the words we were dreading: “I’m so sorry to tell you, there is a problem with your baby’s heart.” The cardiologist then took some time to scan the heart further, before telling us he believed our baby had transposition of the great arteries (TGA).

We were then escorted into a private room and joined by a nurse who drew us diagrams and told us how it could be corrected. He told us how lucky we were to find it now, rather than after birth, as our boy would need to be born at a larger hospital with a specialist team. I was devastated and had no idea how I was going to handle it. I went home and crazily googled everything to do with TGA, which led me to the Tiny Tickers website. I then ordered a family support pack and I immediately felt hope reading the stories of others. It’s hard to put into words the devastation we felt in those early days, but that devastation turned into gratitude that it had been picked up so early. Thanks to the early detection, we were able to prepare ourselves and our families for what was to come.

Our baby boy was then born in May 2024. He wasn’t well enough for a cuddle and went straight to Birmingham Children’s.

The early detection saved Alfie’s life without a doubt as if he was born at George Elliot with how unwell he was may have ended up a different story. We thank our lucky stars everyday for them midwives and without tiny tickers delivering this specialist training and equipment around the country it wouldn’t have been possible.

They have trained over 3000 midwives for CHD problems since 2016 and with further donations can save many more babies lives like Alfie’s.

Luke is now running a half marathon on 8 September 2024 in honour of the charity that supported us through this awful time in our life in hope they can continue to support further families in the future ❤️