Harefield Hospital

We are raising funds for Harefield Hospital who saved the life of our Director of Sport Mr Wassell last summer.

Long story short, at the end of June he was admitted to our local hospital, apparently with an unknown and rather aggressive virus that was attacking his heart. Fairly quickly it became evident that his condition was well out of their remit so he was moved to the amazing Harefield Hospital which specialises in heart and lung issues.

He was diagnosed with myocarditis (massive inflammation of the heart muscle) among other things, which led to his heart failing, along with his lungs and kidneys. He spent the next two weeks in an induced coma and on a number of different life support machines.

As the hospital didn’t know the cause they basically fired every type of drug that they thought might help into his system and thankfully something clicked as he turned a corner and started to improve.

Once he woke up, he had another two weeks in ICU and then another 2 1/2 weeks on a ward recovering, before being discharged to start the long road to full health at home.

After spending the Autumn Term at home and the Spring and Summer Terms 'easing himself' back in, he is now thankfully well on the way to his old self.

The funds raised will go towards new Dialysis machines which will revolutionize this process, turning it from one of the most terrifying aspects of his stay in ITU (more below) into a much more relaxed and routine procedure.

Throughout his time in ITU there were only two things that really scared him - having a drain put into his chest to drain a large amount of fluid from around his heart (He was awake when they did this and it was pretty horrible), and the Dialysis that he had to have every other day for 10 days.

The current process of Dialysis takes 12 hours and has to be completed overnight. ITU at night is like being on the bridge of the Death-Star with everything pitch black except for the various machines that are keeping you alive, flashing and bleeping away. The worst part is that you can actually see your blood leaving your body, being whirred around a machine and then re-entering your blood supply which is a terrifying thought. You don't get much sleep when you are having Dialysis.

In addition to the stress on the patient, the procedure also puts a stress of a different kind of the hospital as there have to be two nurses in attendance at all times due to the nature of the process.

The new machines (which we are fundraising for) cut the amount of time that the process takes down to 4 hours and allows it to be completed during the day - a much nicer experience for all involved.