Georges Story

On 16^th May 2016, my wife (Louise) was rushed in to Surgery at the Newcastle RVI hospital with a placental abruption, which means (to those without a medical background) that our 27 week gestational aged baby had become detached from Louise’s body and was being starved of blood (and hence oxygen) within Louise’s womb.

George was delivered blue, lifeless and floppy after an emergency caesarean section, and after 14 minutes of heart massage it looked like George wasn’t going to make it. Only through the skill and persistence of the medical team at the RVI was it possible to raise George’s heart rate and transfer him immediately to the intensive care suite. He weighed just 1lb 3oz (550 grams).

Due to the placental abruption, Louise had lost nearly a litre and a half of blood and so required some medical assistance to overcome that. Louise was stabilised within 24 hours and so began the longest 3 months of our lives.

On the first day of George’s life we were told that he was extremely ill, and that the consultants responsible for him weren’t sure of his chances of survival. They would ‘get to know him’ over the following hours / days and we should prepare ourselves for the roller coaster of emotions that were to follow.

Within the first week we learnt that George was unable to breathe for himself, he had a wide open heart duct (which would require surgery in the near future), he was anaemic, severely jaundice, was suffering from suspected sepsis (an infection) due to the intravenous lines (which were in each arm, each leg and his belly button) and that he was potentially suffering from Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC).

Another issue that became apparent in the early days was that George had an inability to create his own Adrenalin, an issue which could mean lifetime blood pressure support.

George really didn’t have great odds on his side, and I still remember breaking down in tears and telling Louise that I was scared to get to know our little boy because I was worried that I’d have to say goodbye to him so soon.

We had a blessing (christening) for George in the first week. The christening was the first time we (Myself, Louise and George) spent
quality time as a family, and is one moment that I’ll never forget. The weeks and months that followed were at times agonising, but also very special as we got to learn how remarkable our little boy could be.

George was transferred for heart surgery at the Royal Freeman
Hospital in Newcastle in the early weeks of his life to have his duct
closed up, we now know that without this operation his chances were very slim.  We were told that this was a routine operation, but this didn’t stop the two hours of surgery feeling like two months. Thankfully it was a success and proved to be the turning point for many of Georges’ ailments. Over the following weeks, Georges breathing support was
reduced, he was able to open his bowels (an issue which caused us many sleepless nights), and he eventually started to increase in weight. We still had a long way to go, but after two months of worry we were able to have conversations about ‘when’ George goes home, instead of the ‘if’ conversations that had filled our life.

More recently, George has undergone treatment for ROP
(Retinopathy of Prematurity), where without treatment he would inevitably go blind. Up to now, the treatment received has gone well and his eyes are developing as we would have hoped.

We've now had George at home for 6 weeks, he is nearly five months old. If he had been born on his due date he would have been a little over eight weeks old.

George has surprised everyone with his development, he is now without any breathing support and feeding the same as a baby born under normal circumstances. Many of his initial problems have now been rectified.

We can truly say that we are the luckiest and happiest parents
in the whole world.

For all of the above reasons I have decided to run the London Marathon in 2017 to raise money for Bliss, a charity dedicated to sick or premature babies. The work that they do behind the scenes is unbelievable
and without such charities our journey would have been much more difficult. If you could make a donation, then you can do so, if not, then please share this story, if not to help raise funds for a good cause, then to help others who may be placed in a situation similar to ours.

Thank you from myself and Louise for reading George’s story.