Fundraising 

Kirsty and I will forever be indebted to Sheffield Childrens Hospital and the wonderful people who work there. One Friday at the end of March, Eliza started with a fever and swollen glands in her neck, so far, so normal. After a few days of no improvement, a reluctance to eat or drink, and a few trips to the children’s A&E, we knew something was really wrong when Eliza woke up with very swollen glands in her neck and unable to move her head. Thankfully our GP booked us into the Acute Assessment Unit at the children’s and off we went for a long wait. As is typical, Eliza exhibited no signs of being ill as she played and caused havoc. Kirsty and I waited for her ultrasound to confirm what we thought we knew, swollen glands and to keep her on antibiotics. What transpired next will always haunt us. The ultrasound picked up a potential collection of fluid near her airway, but they needed the ear, nose and throat specialists to take a look. Within minutes the consultant surgeon was with us explaining that he was really concerned and the best course of action would be to do a CT scan. Within a couple of hours of the ultrasound, Eliza was put under general anaesthetic and intubated. Unfortunately that scan confirmed that she had an abscess next to her airway that was dangerously close to causing her breathing problems. 

A very nervous few hours ensued whilst Eliza underwent surgery and we waited for any news. Fortunately it was a success and the surgeon was confident he had managed to remove the entirety of what he described as a “massive abscess”. Knowing the abscess was gone only slightly eased the pain of seeing her looking so helpless on the intensive care ward. 

Despite expecting a 24 hour stay on ICU, in typical Eliza fashion, she wasn’t going to be having a full nap and she surprised everyone by waking up a bit early and reaching straight for Kirsty to have a cuddle. We moved wards soon after and the road to recovery continued. 

A week long stay in the hospital would have been unbearable if it wasn’t for all the amazing staff we encountered. 

We can’t thank everyone enough. I can’t imagine having to spend every working day dealing with poorly children, the staff at the children’s hospital were amazing. This is why I’m running the Sheffield 10k in aid of the Sheffield Childrens Hospital, they truly deserve it.