Running for Teddy

Its taken me a long time to get the courage to write this and put it out there for all to see so please take a read and donate if you can…

As most of you may know, Lou and I were expecting our second baby in 2023… a little boy who was due to arrive in August. Darcie was super excited knowing she was going to be a big sister and have a little brother to boss around but sadly our excitement soon ended and our world was turned upside down.

On April 17th 2023 during a routine scan we were told by a midwife that our little baby boy had a hole in his heart but we didn’t need to worry and all would be fine. We were referred to Southampton children’s hospital for a second opinion and on 19th April we were told our baby boy had a heart defect called hypoplastic left heart, something we had never heard of before.

We were taken to a room with numerous Dr’s, nurses, heart surgeons and midwifes which was worrying in itself with 12 strangers looking at you. We were told that hypoplastic left heart is a defect that can occur in 1 in 4000 babies and unfortunately there is no cure but only operations that could prolong someone’s life. Not understanding what was being told to us they began to draw pictures of our sons heart and explained that due to the heart defect he would not have a long and healthy life ahead of him and for a life expectancy of 3/4years old.

Lou and I were given options on what could happen next, we were told that we could carry on with the pregnancy and go full term and he have open heart surgery with a chance to survive to 3/4years, or palliative care at home or for the pregnancy to end and our son to be born into this world early.

Making that decision and knowing what was the right thing to do was extremely difficult and heart-breaking….

On 25th April 2023 at 03:25 at only 22 weeks our beautiful son Teddy was born sleeping. Lou and I made some forever lasting memories with Teddy including him being blessed by the hospital Chaplin.

On 15th May Teddy had a beautiful service at Worthing crematorium where Lou and I and our families could send Teddy off on his next adventure. Teddy will always be our son and apart of our family so please feel free to talk about him like we do.

We have had so much support from family and friends which we will always be forever grateful for but I’m asking for a little bit more….. I have kept it quiet but in June I signed up for the Brighton half marathon which is on 25th February 2024. Now if you know me well enough you will know I hate running and can’t sleep for 2 weeks leading up to the annual bleep test for work. So this has been challenging mentally and physically. I’m running for Teddy and to raise money for the British Heart Foundation to support them in ongoing research into heart conditions that can help save lives and maybe one day have an answer for hypoplastic left heart so others could have a healthy long happy life.

Thank you for taking the time to read this xxx