Huge thanks for choosing to support Newcastle Hospitals Charity - a cause that couldn't be closer to our family's hearts. On Monday 16 May 2022, after a major heart attack at home, Lily and Ruby's Daddy suffered a catastrophic cardiac arrest which saw his heart fail. It was a really scary time and we almost lost him. But thanks to the amazing paramedics, doctors, nurses, surgeons, ward staff, physiotherapists and everyone at the Freeman, he beat the odds and made it off life support to return home to us later in June. (Nurse Paul, we’re forever grateful to you for not giving up on him that night - you’re forever my hero. And a huge thank you to my PE Teacher Miss Abbott for teaching me CPR 30 years ago). 

Unfortunately (even though, in his own words, he looks amazing 😊), Al's still very poorly. His mobility is impacted with femoral nerve damage from the life support machine (a small price to pay in exchange for being alive) - and the significant, irreparable damage to his heart, alongside the severity of advanced congestive heart failure, means he can't continue with his own heart - he needs a new one. 

Right now, Al is here to cuddle his girls and tell them how much he loves them, and we couldn't be more thankful for that. We're so lucky to have the Freeman Hospital and Institute of Transplantation/LVAD Facility so close to home – and we're incredibly grateful to all of the wonderful, dedicated staff at the Freeman, who come to work every day and move mountains - for us, they literally performed a miracle. Without their tremendous care and commitment to saving him on that awful night and the weeks and months that followed, he wouldn't be here. Our family has seen first-hand the incredibly difficult job they do - and we understand just how special you need to be to do it. To all of you: please know how appreciated you are and what a difference you make - thank you more than words can say, you're truly angels. And in the darkest of times, you've also become our beacon of hope for the future... 

Update - April 2023: Whilst Al was told he needs a new heart to continue to live, unfortunately he wasn't deemed well enough to survive a transplant operation. The Freeman came to the rescue again: under the care of the brilliant cardiology and surgical teams he became the 280th person (out of 68 million) in the UK to have an LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) implanted into his heart, as a bridge to transplant. The LVAD is basically, an internal life support pump, that takes over the pumping of his heart 24/7. He's powered by batteries during the day and at night he plugs into the mains (kind of like Iron Man is how we explained it to the girls). The hope is that the LVAD will help rest his other organs, so that he's well enough for transplant. Huge thanks to the LVAD team - Andy, Sian and Jen, Dr McDiarmid, Tanveer, Mr Shah and Prof Schueler, the surgical team, and the amazing teams on Wards 38, 27 and 21 Critical Care. 

Update: December 2023: The LVAD is doing its job! On 22 December Al was officially listed on the Active Transplant List. 

While Al waits for his new heart, we'll be continuing to raise awareness - and funds to help show these wonderful humans how amazing they are, so they can keep helping Daddy, and others like him who need their help. And we’d love your help to do that – whether it’s donating, undertaking activities yourself (get in touch and we can add you to the team!), raising awareness of the amazing work the Freeman does, or making your organ donation wishes known to your loved ones. Thank you. Love Ruby and Lily (and Kate) xxx