In May 2018, the normally healthy, happy, bouncing baby Arthur suddenly became very poorly and thanks to the quick action of Dr Chan (our GP) he was admitted to hospital. It quickly became clear that our local hospital was not able to treat him there as he was a very sick little boy indeed. A Paediatric Intensive Care team from the Evelina Hospital South Thames Retrieval Service came down from London, stabilised him for transfer and brought him with sirens wailing and lights flashing to the Evelina Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). It was here that Dr Bell, Head of Service for Paediatric Cardiology, immediately diagnosed Arthur with severe, acute heart failure caused by Myocarditis (viral infection of the heart). 

We called the Evelina home for the next two weeks as Dr Bell and his brilliant Cardiology team together with the dedicated and skilled PICU / Cardiac High Dependency nurses fought to halt the damage to his heart muscles and regain his heart function. He underwent surgery to insert a line straight into his heart and was monitored and medicated constantly. Myocarditis is notoriously difficult to diagnose - often until it's too late - and the odds of a full recovery were stacked against little Arthur so we are incredibly thankful for Dr Bell's expertise and commitment to getting him to the Evelina and the life saving medications and procedures he needed as quickly as possible to beat those odds. Arthur is now home under regular and meticulous monitoring as an Evelina Cardiology outpatient and is slowly and steadily winning the battle with the myocarditis beast. We are so lucky to still have Baby Arthur. 

The Evelina really is a special place and despite children there facing life threatening, life limiting or life changing illnesses and challenges there is a feeling of great camaraderie and compassion between patients, parents and the wonderful medical staff. Moments of joy are created and tiny steps forward to recovery celebrated. Dr Bell and his Cardiology team commit themselves to huge challenges like climbing Kilimanjaro and running marathons to fundraise for the equipment and facilities they need to enable their life saving work for our children. We want to show our thanks for saving Arthur's life by fundraising as much as we can in the name of Baby Arthur. An echocardiogram machine costs £125,000 alone and the current development of the Cardiology Outpatients area needs greater levels of funding to create the right environment for its little patients. 

Thank you for supporting us to support the Evelina Cardiology team save and transform lives of children with poorly hearts ♥️ xx

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