Cosmo was born on the 2nd February 2012 and appeared to be a normal healthy baby of 8lbs 2oz.

He was with us at home for five short weeks until on Friday the 9th March 2012, he suffered a cardiac arrest at home. We are eternally grateful for the assistance of our neighbours (a trained paramedic and a prison officer) who kept Cosmo's alive by giving emergency CPR on the scene whilst we awaited the ambulances.

Cosmo was taken to Gloucester Royal Hospital where they managed to get his heart going again, but this was at such a rate they had to administer drugs to actually reduce his heartbeat. They thought that he was suffering from supraventricular tachycardia. Cosmo began to suffer seizures. His body and brain had been starved of oxygen for approximately 32 minutes. They had to sedate him.

A specialist 'Retrieval' team was sent from Bristol Children's Hospital and he was transferred into their care in the early hours of the Saturday morning.

Cosmo went onto a number of drugs. Seeing him over the next few days was incredibly tough. At one point he had 11 syringe pumps feeding him the required cocktail of medicines. He was on life support as he could not breathe himself.  

Bristol Children's Hospital is difficult to describe. It is child-friendly (as much as it can be). Cosmo had a dedicated nurse in intensive care, with a direct dial so we could call whenever we where not there. There are no set visiting times. We were allowed (and encouraged) to help care for him. They have incredible equipment. But this is only because of The Grand Appeal.

Cosmo showed amazing progress because of the care within this hospital. Within a couple of days, we thought he may be gripping our fingers. On the third day, we thought he opened his eyes (just a little). He did this about ten times. The next day he began to move his limbs, a little at a time. By the fifth day, he had began to breath on his own and was transferred to their specialist cardiac unit. Another child took Cosmo's place immediately, which was heartbreaking to see. 

He suffered a couple of seizures within the cardiac unit and had echocardiograms almost daily to determine the speed of his recovery. Within a few days Cosmo was well enough to be transferred to our local hospital. This allowed us to be with our family and be referred to local social services teams for after care. Within a few more days, Cosmo was home with his family. 

I have no doubt in my mind that Bristol Children's Hospital have given Cosmo the best chance for the future. Whilst he may have some developmental issues, the chances of survival (I have been told since) are around 4% for this kind of event. At the time we had been told it was likely, should he survive, we would be dealing with a severe brain injury. This looks unlikely at this stage from MRI tests and his recovery to date.  

I would be so grateful if you could help me give the staff at this hospital the best chance possible in saving other children by donating whatever you can afford. 

 

UPDATE - £1,000 Achieved - Special thanks to Graham Swanson as well as the team at CSIS. Further fundraising is planned - Watch this space..

UPDATE - 20th January 2013. 

Cosmo is coming up for 1 year old now. He has been in and out of hospital (for short stays) with bouts of SVT, but in general is doing wonderful. 

Cosmo crawls, he stands himself up (no walking quite yet!) and he laughs and claps his way through each day. He is never moody (unless really hungry or incredibly tired). He is a joy to be with. 

He has a consultant that calls him 'miracle boy', but I think it is more than that. The support he got (initially from our BRILLIANT neighbours) but more importantly after transfer to the intensive care unit at Bristol was inspiring. We were sat and down and given 'the talk' about brain damage/chances of survival. Well, there is no sign of anything wrong with him at this stage (bar the SVT - we can live with that). 

We are just putting together his 1st birthday party. He will not be getting presents from those attending - just donations to The Grand Appeal. Cosmo has enough toys. The gift of life to another child will be the best gift we can give. 

I would love you to help us in that, should you be able. 

UPDATE -- March 24tth 2015 - I'm doing it again! This time I am running the Bristol 10k for Bristol Children's Hospital! I'm not a runner, so this is the equivilent to a marathon for me..

A short update on Cosmo - he is still doing extremely well although there is a suggestion that he may have a mild form of epilepsy and his running isn't quite what it may be. To be fair, these are very little things considering.

You can donate through the website here, or text UJDM96 £1 (or more) to 70070 

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