This is Isla. Isla attends kid’s 1st, Gosforth where she enjoys playing with her friends, singing, reading, dancing and imaginative play. In many ways Isla is an average four-year-old girl, who is full of character, bubbly and smart, but sadly she was born with a very rare condition known as VACTERL Association disorder. This condition effects only 1 in 40,000 births. VACTERL is an acronym where each letter of the word represents a different birth defect. Every child born with the condition will be entirely different and some will be more effected by their anomalies than others. Isla has sadly suffered a lot as a result of her anomalies and they affect her daily life significantly. She was born with anomalies of her throat, heart, stomach, kidneys, bowel, hands and feet-many of these requiring surgeries. She also struggles to grow and gain weight, so is a very petite yet larger than life, beautiful girl.

Isla’s had lots of challenges since birth, but the main challenge is related to feeding. Her anatomical issues, have resulted in her having very severe acid reflux, which causes significant pain whenever she is given food. She has learned to associate pain with feeding and chose to stop eating early in life, resulting in Isla being entirely reliant on tube feeds. She now receives all food, fluid and medication via her tube. She is fed regularly and at a slow pace, throughout the day, which means she spends a high proportion of her day in discomfort. Her reflux has also caused Isla to suffer with recurrent pneumonia infections and she can become very unwell very quickly.

Sadly, despite lots of surgical intervention, Isla’s issues are yet to be resolved. The procedures which are usually used to treat her condition have been unsuccessful and the hospital have now suggested a more radical procedure to try and improve Isla’s comfort whilst feeding. Isla will be the first child to ever have this surgery, which will take place in the next couple of months. It will be her 24th trip to theatre.

We are delighted that Kid’s 1st Gosforth have offered to help raise both awareness and money for two fantastic charities inspired by Isla’s medical journey, the Sick Children’s trust, who provide onsite accommodation for families of children in intensive care and the Great North Children’s Hospital Trust, without whom Isla would simply not be with us today. All donations would be gratefully received to support these fantastic causes so that they can continue to support families like Isla’s and help improve life for sick children.