This September we are raising funds for Royal Victoria Hospital NI Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Children’s Heartbeat Trust.

A first birthday is always special. For us, Olivia’s first birthday is a milestone we will never take for granted.

A year ago, our world changed when we learned that our baby girl had a severe Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) - a heart condition. Olivia arrived eight weeks premature and, in her first week of life alone, had to be defibrillated 13 times as doctors fought to stabilise her tiny heart.

There were frightening days, long nights and moments when we simply didn’t know what lay ahead.

But in the middle of that fear, we experienced the very best of people.

The incredible doctors, nurses and staff in the Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, cared for Olivia around the clock with extraordinary skill, compassion and kindness, as well as those healthcare professionals on Clark Clinic. Children’s Heartbeat Trust supported us as a family as we tried to navigate a diagnosis and a journey we never expected to face.

Now, as we prepare to celebrate her first birthday, we look back with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

So rather than simply celebrating how far Olivia has come, we want to give something back to those who helped get her here.

We are raising money for Children’s Heartbeat Trust and the Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to help them continue supporting and caring for other babies, children and families when they need it most.

Every donation – big or small – is our way of saying thank you.

Thank you for helping us celebrate Olivia’s first birthday, for supporting these two incredible causes, and for helping us give back to those who gave our family so much. ❤️