Saturday 11th May 2019. What started off as a completely normal day became anything but.

My wonderful mum took ill whilst walking into town - a short but fairly steep uphill walk that she usually does pretty much every day. At 11:43am I called for an ambulance. She was symptomatic of a heart attack, but her legs were also in pain and she wasn’t really in control of them. The ambulance arrived within 5 minutes and she was rushed to Barnsley Hospital where she was scanned and diagnosed with an aortic dissection. She was transferred straight to the Chesterman Wing at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital. By 4pm, she was in with the anaesthetist being prepped for major cardiothoratic surgery. The consultant sat me down in a private room and explained that if she hadn’t gotten to them so quickly, she would’ve died. He also explained that the surgery itself was incredibly risky and she might not survive that. Honestly, the next 24 hours were possibly the worst of my life. Mum was in surgery for around 9 hours and even though that went well, there were complications. Her blood wasn’t clotting so they couldn’t stop her bleeding. They worked so hard for many hours until they finally stabilised her. They had to keep her chest open for a couple of days to make sure her blood was clotting properly. They finally closed it on the Monday but even that wasn’t as straightforward as it should’ve been. Mum kept them busy. She was on medication to keep her sedated and paralysed, and on machines doing absolutely everything for her. Over the following days, they woke her up and she made slow and steady progress. She spent 3 weeks in Intensive Care and another 3 in the Progressive Care Unit/Chesterman 4.

My mum is back home now. She’s still got a way to go but I am so grateful for everything that has been done for her. She’s been touched by angels and those angels are the staff at the Chesterman Wing.

I feel like we’ve metaphorically climbed a mountain since that day so what better way to raise money than by climbing one in real life. On Sunday 11th August, exactly 3 months on, I will be climbing Snowdon with some of my best friends. I have never climbed an actual mountain before, I get knackered if I climb the stairs too quickly, but I’m willing to push myself (and my girls - sorry huns) to raise as much money as possible for a very worthy cause. I’d love to raise thousands upon thousands of pounds to ensure that patients who are critically poorly can continue to receive the same amazing care that my wonderful mum did. I’ve set a modest target of £300 which will go at least some way to repaying my immense gratitude to the place that saved my mum’s life. Anything you can donate will be most welcome.

Thank you in advance. I’ll be sure to post updates on here and on my social media to show everyone how completely knackered I am when I (eventually) reach the top.

Love,

Katie x