Help support Cooper
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Please help support Cooper
Who we are:
Hello, our names are Brendon and Steff, a young family trying our best to make a happy and safe life in country Victoria. We have been blessed with 2 beautiful children – our first, Bentley, is almost two and is a little bundle of absolute joy; being Autistic he has taught us patience and resilience and how to rise above the daily challenges of being a parent of a child on the spectrum; and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Just over a week ago we welcomed our second son Cooper into the world. We were filled with so much love and happiness when he finally made it safely, albeit early into the world, as it was a particularly difficult pregnancy and birth for mum and bub (mum contracting cholestasis - a liver disease, as well as haemorrhaging after birth, and bub having swollen kidneys that weren’t draining) We finally got to bring him home and start our new journey as a family, however, in just a few short days our world was completely turned upside down.
The Backstory:
At just 8 days old our little boy was rushed to Ballarat Base Hospital as he was looking very unwell and struggling to breath regularly. He was being monitored when things quickly got much worse – he began having seizures and stopped breathing altogether, needing to be put on life support. As of that day, it is this breathing tube that is keeping him alive. It became apparent that Cooper was in a very bad way and needed to be transferred from Ballarat to the Royal Melbourne Children’s hospital. Absolutely terrified and in shock we rushed to be with him and watched as his tiny body was hooked up to all sorts of tubes and wires to monitor his vitals and bodily functions. He was put through test after test to figure out what was wrong, enduring pain and discomfort from numerous blood tests, and multiple attempts by doctors to conduct painful spinal taps, desperately trying to find out what was the cause of our baby boys illness.
After several days of panic and confusion, not knowing and waiting, we have been told that tiny little Cooper has an infection of the fluid around his brain from a virus he contracted in the womb. This is what caused the seizures and his lungs to stop working on their own. The doctors cannot tell us what will happen next. They have told us that they have only seen a handful of cases like Coopers, and each one has been different from the next. According to the doctors they do not know if he is going to be okay and it is up to our sweet little Cooper to keep fighting. As we sit and we wait for answers that may or may not come, we are completely out of our depth and don’t know where to turn.
How you can Help:
Never in our wildest dreams did we ever think we would be on this platform asking for help that we so desperately need. But we’ve been put in a position where we find ourselves feeling scared and hopeless. As his parents, our place is at his side every step of this terrifying journey. However, it is becoming harder and harder to do so as the increasing costs of this traumatic event have created a financial burden that we are struggling and unable to manage.
Some examples of this are the costs of parking for hours a day at the hospital, petrol to get there and back, as well as travelling to and from Ballarat as we have pets, food expenses, medication, a mortgage and all of our bills, all of which are paid for using the one income.
We honestly don’t know what is in store for us, financially and emotionally, but we do know that we are struggling and desperately need help. We’ve always tried our hardest to be independent and land on our feet but we have realised that we cant do this alone and need to ask for help. We would be so very grateful for any kind of support and it would mean so very much to us to receive any help so that we can continue to be with our son during this most traumatic and heartbreaking time.
Who we are:
Hello, our names are Brendon and Steff, a young family trying our best to make a happy and safe life in country Victoria. We have been blessed with 2 beautiful children – our first, Bentley, is almost two and is a little bundle of absolute joy; being Autistic he has taught us patience and resilience and how to rise above the daily challenges of being a parent of a child on the spectrum; and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Just over a week ago we welcomed our second son Cooper into the world. We were filled with so much love and happiness when he finally made it safely, albeit early into the world, as it was a particularly difficult pregnancy and birth for mum and bub (mum contracting cholestasis - a liver disease, as well as haemorrhaging after birth, and bub having swollen kidneys that weren’t draining) We finally got to bring him home and start our new journey as a family, however, in just a few short days our world was completely turned upside down.
The Backstory:
At just 8 days old our little boy was rushed to Ballarat Base Hospital as he was looking very unwell and struggling to breath regularly. He was being monitored when things quickly got much worse – he began having seizures and stopped breathing altogether, needing to be put on life support. As of that day, it is this breathing tube that is keeping him alive. It became apparent that Cooper was in a very bad way and needed to be transferred from Ballarat to the Royal Melbourne Children’s hospital. Absolutely terrified and in shock we rushed to be with him and watched as his tiny body was hooked up to all sorts of tubes and wires to monitor his vitals and bodily functions. He was put through test after test to figure out what was wrong, enduring pain and discomfort from numerous blood tests, and multiple attempts by doctors to conduct painful spinal taps, desperately trying to find out what was the cause of our baby boys illness.
After several days of panic and confusion, not knowing and waiting, we have been told that tiny little Cooper has an infection of the fluid around his brain from a virus he contracted in the womb. This is what caused the seizures and his lungs to stop working on their own. The doctors cannot tell us what will happen next. They have told us that they have only seen a handful of cases like Coopers, and each one has been different from the next. According to the doctors they do not know if he is going to be okay and it is up to our sweet little Cooper to keep fighting. As we sit and we wait for answers that may or may not come, we are completely out of our depth and don’t know where to turn.
How you can Help:
Never in our wildest dreams did we ever think we would be on this platform asking for help that we so desperately need. But we’ve been put in a position where we find ourselves feeling scared and hopeless. As his parents, our place is at his side every step of this terrifying journey. However, it is becoming harder and harder to do so as the increasing costs of this traumatic event have created a financial burden that we are struggling and unable to manage.
Some examples of this are the costs of parking for hours a day at the hospital, petrol to get there and back, as well as travelling to and from Ballarat as we have pets, food expenses, medication, a mortgage and all of our bills, all of which are paid for using the one income.
We honestly don’t know what is in store for us, financially and emotionally, but we do know that we are struggling and desperately need help. We’ve always tried our hardest to be independent and land on our feet but we have realised that we cant do this alone and need to ask for help. We would be so very grateful for any kind of support and it would mean so very much to us to receive any help so that we can continue to be with our son during this most traumatic and heartbreaking time.
Fundraising team (2)
Brendon Farquhar
Organizer
Ballarat VIC
Steff Bignold
Team member
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