Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. 

On the 20th July, a month before her 1st birthday, my beautiful, daughter - Matilda - contracted pneumococcal meningitis.

Arriving at the hospital, she was already gravely ill and she failed to respond to antibiotics. An emergency CT scan came next, then a lumber puncture. She was pale lipped, grey, clammy, unresponsive with a raging temperature. An hour and a half later came presentations of neurological distress and seizures. Her breathing was shallow, she was struggling to stay alive. More doctors came in, then Consultants, explanations and concerns. They began to sedate her to protect her brain from the complications of the diagnosed meningitis. By 4:30 that Sunday afternoon, she had stopped breathing by herself.

The emergency crash alarm was sounded, more doctors and nurses rushed in to our curtained bay. Myself and Matilda's Daddy were whisked through A&E to a Relatives Room to wait and wait and wait for news... any news.

Three hours later, Matilda was in the Children's Critical Care Unit, Intensive Care. We looked at our baby covered in IV's, tubes, being ventilated, machines bleeping, screens monitoring her every intubated breath and we crumbled.

I can not describe the feeling other than terror. Free falling without anything. No thoughts, just a blank numbness. No one knew what would happen, no one could reassure us she would be alright. It was second by second.

Initially, she was cooled with ice mats in an induced coma for 3 days to stabilize her temperature and let her body rest while the antibiotics attacked the infection. Gradually her sedation was decreased and we waited for her to wake up.  She made tiny, slow steps, in her own time. On the Thursday she took a few terrifying backward steps but, thankfully, rapidly returned to stable.

Almost a week later, on Saturday morning, we arrived to see Matilda propped up in bed watching Peppa Pig on a bedside DVD player, still poorly, but awake and engaging. Oh the joy!

Her breathing tube came out the next evening and the following morning, I held her for the first time in over a week. On Tuesday morning she was moved through to High Dependency, she was out of Intensive Care! Tests showed she was clear of infection, clear of neurological damage, clear of seizures. Two days later we were on a ward and five days after that, with community physiotherapists visits planned, we got to bring our baby home.

What a journey.

What a story for our little lady, but what a little fighter. So strong and determined and full of life (again. Thankfully.) 

So, to get to the point, I am raising money for this amazing unit at the John Radcliffe hospital. The unit is run by a team of super human people. They work tirelessly to save these precious tiny people. To cure infection, to fix broken bodies. Piece by tiny piece they put them back together. They do all of that and manage to pull the parents through the trauma as well. 

This unit needs money, lots of money, all the time. To stay open, to keep equipment up to date, to try new techniques. 

To save lives. To prevent the unthinkable.

If you would like to support me, I will be running the Oxford half marathon on the 12th October. I will wheeze my way around 13 miles for any amount of sponsorship money. Anything  you can offer would be gratefully received.

We are so lucky our story ended so positively and Matilda is recovering remarkably well. Thank goodness.

Thank goodness for the Children's Critical Care Unit and for the amazing team of doctors and nurses.

We are incredibly lucky to have this unit in Oxford. It is a place of miracles.

Thank you for reading Matilda's story.

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.