The Sick Children’s Trust helps families stay together at the worst times. Zack has been through more than most face in a lifetime. This is his story and why the charity means so much to us. 

Zack, our superhero, was born slightly premature at 36 and a half weeks. He needed to meet us early because of an almost fatal neonatal stroke inside the womb. If we hadn’t had an emergency c section after noticing something wasn’t feeling quite right, Zack would not be with us today. The stroke was caused by blood clots that formed in his arm and his brain, depriving them of oxygen, leading to him having his arm amputated at just a week old and permanent damage to his brain. 

Because of his circumstances, Zack needed specialist help from doctors at Leeds General Infirmary which was far from home for us. He was taken there right away and we had to stay behind because of the c section, not getting to hold him. Once we were able to go and see Zack, over 24 hours later, we spent 22 days in the hospital and these were the longest and scariest three weeks of our lives. Even though Zack wasn’t as small and fragile as the other premature babies in the neonatal unit, he was still connected to machines with so many wires in an incubator and he was in horrible pain. He underwent many tests and scans and had lots of bruises from countless needles. We were so scared and upset already and worrying about how we were going to stay close to Zack made everything worse. Thankfully we were helped by an amazing charity called The Sick Children’s Trust. They provided us a room in one of their “homes from home,” Eckersley House, where we could live right across from the hospital and care for our boy as much as we could. Being close by meant there was one less thing to stress about. 

Our beautiful, happy boy, after another 7-day stint in the hospital, has now been diagnosed with infantile spasms, a severe and damaging form of epilepsy, and has some developmental needs, which means in the future we may need to be back in Leeds and Eckersley House again. 

Owen, Libby, Andy, Louis, Chris, Katie, Chris, Katriona, Alistair, Laura, and Harry are running the Yorkshire Marathon and are trying to raise money for The Sick Children’s Trust who helped us in our greatest time of need, and said we always have a place to stay if ever we need it again. It costs The Sick Children’s Trust £40 to support a family for one night and gives them so much more than a roof over their heads when their child is in hospital. Any donation small or large would be greatly appreciated and could help so many other families in the future. Our original target was £1600 because that is double what it cost for them to help us, but we smashed that goal with the help of so many generous people! Let’s keep it up!