Please take a minute to read my close friends Callum and Ellen's heartbreaking story below and if possible please donate what you can.

Thank you Ashley Law

Joshua James Titley was born at 3.20pm on 27/01/19. He was born at 23+5 weeks (16 weeks premature), weighing 1lb 8oz. We gained a son, Oliver and Isla a little Brother, Grandparents another Grandson, Uncles and Aunties another Nephew and Cousins another Cousin. 

After surviving the birth Joshua was incubated and put on a ventilator. He was transferred to the Neonatal Unit within James Cook Hospital and was placed in the intensive care section on the unit. Joshua had to have lines inserted through his belly button so he could receive the nutrition and medication that he required. Joshua had a head and heart scan which showed that he had an open PDA and some bleeding on the brain but this was to be expected given his gestation age. He was tolerating his feeds well and things seemed to be fairly stable, although we knew the odds were against Joshua we remained optimistic, he was showing that he was a little fighter. 

Sadly Joshua soon developed Sepsis and NEC (Necrotizing Entercolitis) which is serious childhood intestinal condition that is common in premature infants. Joshua deteriorated very quickly and tragically lost his brave fight on 03/02/19. Although we are heartbroken we are also thankful for the week we had with Joshua. We are so proud of the fight that Joshua showed and will never forget our time with him. He will always be part of our family.

The South Tees Hospitals Charity states that:

"The NNU at James Cook includes intensive care and high dependency facilities and is where we care for sick and premature infants. We have ten intensive care/high dependency cots and a number of special care cots and carry out various forms of respiratory support and other intensive therapies including infant cooling.

The unit is relatively large and we have an array of specialised equipment for use to keep our babies warm, monitor them and support them during their stay. 

Donations given to the South Tees Hospitals Charity are used to enhance patient care over and above the core services and facilities which are funded by the government.

Public donations are used for a wide-range of purposes but the role of the charity is not to replace NHS funding but to help provide those little extras over and above what the NHS can provide.

We have big ambitions to make a difference to the experience of patients who need to be cared for in the trust’s hospitals and community services. With your help we want to:

• Keep our hospitals at the forefront of care provision; delivering the best possible care to the region’s population by purchasing state-of-the-art equipment
• Enhance our staff’s training to keep our teams up-to-date on medical advances
• Create the best environments for patients and staff

We can only do this with the help of patients, carers, staff and local communities who organise fundraising events and give donations and legacies."

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thanks for taking time to read our story and we will be so grateful for any contribution you can make in name of our son Joshua.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts

Calum and Ellen xx

PS. We would also be extremely grateful if you would be able to share this page on any of your social media accounts to raise awareness of our fundraising.