Romeo was only three-year-old our Son, a little brother to Bella & Giorgio when he was diagnosed with heart failure in 2019 after back and forth trips to the GP for what they thought was a viral illness. After several weeks of GP visits, Bristol Children’s Hospital diagnosed Romeo with Parvovirus B19, 55,000 copies of the virus was found which is linked to the pathogenesis of myocarditis and can be found in hearts of healthy individuals; this is what sent him into heart failure plus a missed hole in the right Atrium at birth. 

Once admitted to Bristol Children’s Hospital, Romeo was placed on ECMO, a life support machine which supplies prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to those whose heart and lungs cannot provide adequate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life; he was then airlifted by Leicester air ambulance to the Children’s Heart Unit at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle for further ECMO and placed on the heart transplant list. 

Romeo Waited 7 months for the special gift of a heart donor sadly he waited to long and passed away in my arms 18th Nov 2019. 

Romeo was a very happy little boy and so very cuddly we have so many happy memories that we hold on to everyday. 

Thank you for helping us now give back to Chuf and help other Heart  familes that need the vital help Chuf offers. 

CHUFs vision is to support pioneering services that will positively impact heart families, inspire hope and enable Heart Heroes to reach their full potential.This is achieved by supporting the children and families who receive treatment by the Childrens Heart Unit based at Freeman Hospital and the many other hospitals providing care for cardiac patients throughout the North East. We raise vital funds for large and small pieces of equipment, facilities, aftercare, salaries and research. CHUFs charitable activities go far beyond that of providing medical equipment and personnel; the charity provides holistic care to children and their families by providing services and facilities that allow heart children to develop their skills and mature as any healthy child normally would. CHUF supports pioneering research and services that contributes to heart heroes ability to achieve their full potential.