Help us give back to those who helped us

Hello guys this is our story.

At the end of December 2024 we went for our 20 week scan as normal but it was this day that our lives would change massively.

During the scan they noticed something slightly irregular which Amelias heart. At first they didn't think it was anything serious but they referred us over to Leeds General infermary to have the specialist have a look to be safe.

It was at this scan in Leeds that confirmed that there was an issue with Amelias heart and it wasn't forming properly. From there we have regular appointments in Leeds to keep an eye on her heart and see what the issue was. At first we was told there was 2 possible outcomes the first being a balloon stint in her left ventricle to open it up more to help her out the second was Hypoplastic Left heart Syndrome which meant that her left side of the heart would not work and this would mean multiple open heart surgeries up until the age of 6 and her right side of the heart would be doing all the work and this would only give her a 16-22 year life span. As you could imagine this was very hard news to hear and we hoped that it would be the first outcome. Unfortunately as we got further through the pregnancy the heart kept getting worse to the point that the Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome was going to be the only option and that she had started heart failure. At 38 weeks Amelia was born through C section at 10:18am on 31/05/2025 weighing 7lb 6oz. She was immediately submitted into PICU and was put on monitors and medication to help her. Whithin the first day of her being born the specialist tried key hole surgery to help open the bridge between the left and right side of the heart but they was unsuccessful. This is when we was hit with news that no perant ever want to hear and that was there was nothing else they could do for her and that she was going to die. Feeling helpless and heart broken we requested a second opinion to which they reached out to London and within 8 hours we got a response stating that they can perform a surgery to help her and within 24 hours she was flown by helicopter straight down to Evelina childrens Hospital. Me and her mother both had to drive down which took 7 hours and alot of stress as it was central London and we had never drove in London before. Within 24hrs of Amelia being in Evelina she went in for open heart surgery which they was able to open up her left side and the left ventricle as well as put 2 bands on the arteries to the lungs to reduce the pressure. With them being able to complete this surgery it is now a waiting game to see how it holds up and how strong our little baby is which so far she has been so strong and proving that she wants to stay. With this news there is a chance they might be able to do a 2 pumping chamber on her heart which will increase her life expectancy till she's about 50 years old. So all we can do now is prey and hope.

Throughout the pregnancy since we found out about her heart condition we was contacted by an amazing charity called Martin House which specialises in helping families and children in these situations and they have helped us alot and give us massive support whilst going through it all.

Also since being in London at Evelina childrens Hospital the staff have been nothing but amazing helping us with everything we could need and helping us with Amelias care and helping us understand everything that is going on as well as working 24hrs a day making sure Amelia is well.

Along side Evelina childrens Hospital The charity Ronald Mcdonald have provided us with accommodation within 5 minutes of the hospital so we are close to our baby at all times and have provided none stop support from the minute we have got here.

If it wasn't for Martin House, Evelina and Ronald Mcdonald helping us out we don't know what we would of done or even be able to still function and be there for our baby so we would like to ask for you all to help donate even if its £1 so we can share the money between them all to help them improve and continue supporting families in simular situation as us.

Also some of the funds will be used by ourself to help relief some financial strain due to me not being able to work anymore and it being so much more expensive down in London than Leeds.

Thank you all for reading this.