On July 6th 2021, my little sister tested positive for Covid. She was 25 weeks into her 3rd pregnancy, after suffering 2 losses.

8 days after testing positive, Lorren began to suffer high fevers and was so unwell she needed medical attention. After 48 hours on the Covid ward, she was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit and the fight for her life began. 

Lorren's oxygen levels became so low there was no other choice but to place her on a ventilator and into an induced coma. 24 hours later, the decision was made for Lorren to be transferred to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, as they have a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

A few hours after arriving at Derriford, Lorren became critically ill. After several hours of battling to save her, the Royal Brompton Heart & Lung Team were dispatched from London, to transfer Lorren to London to be placed on ECMO.

As a family, we were told to prepare for the worst as Lorren was now beyond critical and we were called to her bedside. A number of scans had shown pockets of air around her heart, that had leaked out through the pressure of oxygen being forced into her lungs. 

Lolly was just too sick to move. 

With her blood pressure rocketing and her heart rate being off the scale, Lorren now also faced Preeclampsia. The difficult decision was made and agreed by all teams that Lorren's baby was to be delivered at 26 weeks.

On July 20th at 5.15pm, Darcey Rose entered the world, weighing 2Ib 1oz. 

Darcey was then transferred to the NICU, where a team of nurses were preparing to give her life saving care. Darcey had suffered 2 bleeds on the brain and a collapsed lung during the birth. 

After just 24 hours, we were told Darcey was not going to survive and that we should use this time to meet our little Darcey to say our final goodbyes. As a family we were all devastated, we couldn’t believe that this was happening to us, and while Lorren was still fighting her own battle for life. 

If there was ever a time we needed a miracle it was now….. And we got one. Our little Darcey continued to fight alongside her Mum. 5 days later, Lorren woke from her coma to be told she was a Mum to a little girl. 

As time passed, Lorren and Darcey began to gain strength and after 10 long days Lorren and Darcey were reunited. 

After 100 days in hospital Lorren and Darcey were discharged to continue their recovery. 

Living in London while all this was happening was difficult, but the one comfort my family and I took, was knowing that my Mum was by Lorren and Darcey's bedside. This would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Keep Me Close. 

Keep Me Close is a fundraising appeal under the umbrella of Plymouth Hospital's Charity (reg no. 1048679). Funds that are raised for Keep Me Close, are used to support the provision and development of parental accommodation for those parents of babies who are being cared for on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

It was because of Keep Me Close, that my Mum was able to support Lorren and Darcey 24/7, for 3 months. This level of support and comfort Keep Me Close gave my family was priceless and an act of kindness we’ll never forget.

As a way of saying thank you and giving back to the charity, I’m running the Brighton Marathon on April 10th to help raise money so that the charity can continue to support families like mine. 

No matter how small the donation, it will help keep a parent close to their child. 

Thank you for reading our story... I'm off for a run.