Help St Albans Family!

St Albans Mum Kay and partner Sam have had the hardest few months and I know that our community can help through the next tricky part of their lives whilst both of their daughters (Khloe 11 and Evelyn 3 just months) are very poorly, in different hospitals and their local business remains closed! Karen Snook

Read on...

In early December, our family unfortunately contracted COVID.

Despite our best efforts our beautiful little 3 month old preemie, Evelyn, began to show symptoms. By Friday 11th December, Evelyn deteriorated and after a paramedic assessment we made the decision to drive her to Lister Hospital.

By midnight, she was having seizures and the decision was made to sedate her and place her on a ventilator.

The amazing team from GOSH drove to us from London and spent 2 hours stabilising Evelyn, before driving us at speed to a specialist intensive care team at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

After 3 of the most horrific and tortuous days of our lives, Evelyn was extubated and breathing independently. We thought we could breathe a sigh of relief…but little did we know that the worst was yet to come.

My 11 year old daughter, Khloe, had also been COVID symptomatic but returned a negative PCR. The day after Evelyn was removed from her ventilator, Khloe’s eye suddenly swelled shut and we brought her to A&E after advice from 111.

A CT scan showed that the sinus infection had entered the cavity around her brain and she was in severe danger. She was blue lighted to Addenbrookes where I was waiting for her.

What began as a plan for an emergency 2-3 hour operation turned into an agonising 8 hours in theatre….with world class surgeons from Neurology, ENT, Ophthalmology and Paediatric all working on her. We have been repeatedly told that she is lucky to be here.

Having 2 children in intensive care with unrelated issues is unfathomable. We naively thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse…

At 12am on 21st December baby Evelyn's hospital monitor sounded. We jumped up to find that she wasn’t breathing, was stiff and was deathly pale. As my partner picked her up, she flatlined.

Thanks to the efforts of an incredibly fast medical team, Evelyn was brought back with CPR in just under 3 minutes. We lost her a further 3 times throughout the night. The sound of the emergency alarms ringing throughout the hospital corridors over and over again will never leave us.

Evelyn was placed on a ventilator for a 2nd time and is now in a critical and ‘precarious’ condition. We have a long road ahead.

Khloe was discharged on Christmas Eve but faces up to 12 weeks of daily IV antibiotics at Lister hospital through a new PICC line installed in her arm.

Juggling 2 children between 2 hospitals each day is not without its challenges (both emotionally and physically).

Due to our need to be with the girls, we had to close our online business down over the busiest season of the year and have been unable to take any wages. This, coupled with the huge expenses we’re incurring daily, has made a tough situation even harder to bear.

We’ve always been too proud to ask for help, but right now we’re sinking further and further into a financial abyss as our daily costs have taken all of our savings (parking at 2 hospitals, 130 miles of driving, simple food to keep us going). The nightly panic of working out how we’ll afford the next days expenses is unbearable.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story. We’re eternally grateful for the outpouring of supportive messages and acts of kindness that have truly overwhelmed us. Kay & Sam x

EDIT: 1 January 2022

Baby Evelyn’s still having seizures and has developed diabetes insipidus but they’re keeping her as stable as they can.

Khloe’s unfortunately back in Lister hospital after some complications with her recovery...