Living For Henry

Our Misson is to raise as much funds possible for pediatric intensive care unit at Noahs Ark Childrens Hospital for Wales for them to be able to continue the amazing work that they do, whether this be spent on equipment, training for staff or support for family members of patients on the ward.

Below is our story and why we have created Living for Henry.

On October 27th 2023 our son Henry stopped breathing at home at just 5 days old. After a night in our local hospital it was decided that Henry needed to be cared for in a more specialised unit. We were told we could be transferred anywhere in the UK that had an available pediatric intensive care bed. Luckily for us Noah's Ark children's hospital Wales had an available space and we made the short journey there.

Shortly after Henry was admitted to the PICU ward we were sat down and told Henry would most likely pass away that night. The doctors and nurses worked tirelessly around the clock to help determine what was causing Henry to be so ill. After a few days and lots of different tests, it was confirmed that Henry had picked up a virus that he couldn't fight, leading his body to develop sepsis. Which unfortunately took his life November 7th. He was just two weeks.

Throughout our stay at the PICU ward Henry came into contact with the most incredible doctors, nurses, consultants. The list of people involved in Henry's care was endless. We couldn't quite comprehend how many people it took to keep Henry alive. Each person who we had involvement with were kind, caring and compassionate and kept us updated throughout Henry's stay in hospital .

We felt like we were part of a little family as they would like to keep the same nurses for consistency. Due to this we were able to form a bond with the doctors and nurses that we'll never forget. They truly are Henry's Heroes. In particular one consultant worked about an 18 hour shift to try and save Henry before he finished work for a few days. He then came back in the next day on his day off to see us. That is a special kind of human being.

On Monday the 6th of November me and Chris were sat in the family room with our friends when a consultant asked if we could have a discussion in a private room. The conversation was not one that we were expecting. The consultant said that Henry had made no improvements in the 9 days he had already stayed on the ward and a further bleed on the brain had happened that was catastrophic. Our options were very limited at this point.

Without hesitation me and Chris then knew the right decision was to take Henry off all the medication and machines that were keeping him alive. Even though it was the hardest decision we would ever have to make in our lives we knew it was the right one.

After making that tough decision we went and sat with Henry and told him it was ok for him to stop fighting and that we would be ok. We knew it was time because after that chat we had with him, he was giving us and the nurses signs he was ready to go.

The consultant agreed with our decision, but still wanted to make sure that they had tried everything they could before we turned his life support off.

On the Tuesday 7th November we were all in agreement that it was the right decision and Henry passed away in our arms, in a private room on the ward.

After Henry had passed away we got to spend some special time with him, making hand and feet moulds, painting his hand and feet and most importantly having cuddles. We hadn't been able to have a cuddle for 10 days. There was no timeframe of when we had to leave the hospital and we could spend as long as we needed with Henry.

All of the above is why we are so passionate on raising funds for the ward. Anyway in which we can help the ward and help families going through the same as us we will.

Please, please consider donating to such a wonderful charity where all proceeds will be given directly to the ward.