The short version:

Over the last ten years Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) have saved our son Craig's life not once, but twice.  Our experiences, whilst incredibly painful, were made tolerable by the amazing people who work there.  Craig's needs were obviously first and foremost, but they really took care of the rest of the family too in ways we didn't expect.  We are forever in their debt.  

Spreading the word about their life changing work and raising precious funds is our way of honouring them and saying thank you for everything they have done for us.  

Please show your support by giving whatever you can or by sharing our story with others.    

(Since a picture paints a thousand words, there are some photos attached below showing life at GOSH.  Captions are included bottom right of each picture.  Please remember these are some of our happier moments, but they are far outnumbered by unhappy memories when taking pictures is the last thing on your mind!)

The longer version: 

Not long after our son Craig was born in 2009, a scan at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) revealed an orange-sized Wilms tumour in his right kidney.  It was treated with two types of chemotherapy, but unfortunately could not be saved.  His kidney was removed just before his 1st birthday.  As you can imagine, it was quite a shock for the whole family.  No one wants to watch their one-year-old child go through all of that and we couldn't even explain to him why it was happening.  

For the next five years, we visited GOSH every three months like clockwork for scans and X-rays to check whether the cancer had returned anywhere else.  Each visit was as nerve racking as you would expect, given the 'yes' or 'no' answer we'd get before leaving.  Sadly, just after telling us the chance of it returning after five years was minimal, it did.  Despite everyone's best efforts and following further rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Craig's remaining kidney was removed in 2015.  He came back from surgery with arterial blood lines inserted into his chest and had his first dialysis session within hours.  There wasn't even time to recover from the surgery.  He was just six and, by now, old enough to understand what was going on.  We were all heartbroken.

This was probably our lowest point - physically and emotionally drained after months of enduring treatments and operations together and now frightened and anxious about the future, with Craig needing 40 hours of dialysis each week to keep him alive.   However, the amazing staff at GOSH helped pick us up, dust us down and, over the course of the next six weeks, trained us to operate a home dialysis machine.  At that time, we were only the 21st family in the UK to benefit from this pioneering program, which meant we were able to dialyse Craig at home rather than needing to return to hospital four times a week.  This made a huge difference to our lives and kept things as normal as possible for Craig.  GOSH continued to support us 24 hours a day over the next two-and-a-half years as we dialysed Craig at home, first during the day and later through the night, so he could return to school full time.  

The three-monthly checkups for scans and X-rays continued and, early in 2017, GOSH suggested a kidney transplant might be possible later in the year.  We learned the best outcomes are seen via donations from close family relations, so Lisa and I were tested and they told us I was a marginally better match by blood type.  To give us the best possible chance of success, GOSH spent the rest of the year preparing Craig and myself for the transplant.  I also started running regularly to improve my fitness.

On the 19th December 2017, my left kidney was removed at Guy's Hospital, driven over to GOSH and carefully re-inserted on Craig's right side.  To say the least, it was quite an experience for all of us and we were so incredibly grateful for everyone's professionalism and emotional support once again.  We spent Christmas 2017 at GOSH, which turned out to be a truly heartwarming experience.  The following weeks were spent recovering in parent accommodation just across the road from the hospital, which is funded by generous organisations and individuals.  By March we had returned to work and school and were starting to adjust back into some kind of normal life.

We still attend GOSH every few weeks to keep en eye on his progress, but on the 5th January this year, Craig celebrated his 10th birthday, free of cancer and free of dialysis.  He is happy and healthy and long may it last!  

We are very lucky to be where we are now and it's all thanks to GOSH and all the many people who have supported us along the way including our wider family, friends and work colleagues alike - many of you reading this now in fact!  We are so grateful.

Please share our story or donate whatever you can to honour and support this incredible organisation and let them carry on their lifesaving work.   Thank you.

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.