Charity provided a lifeline when our baby needed us
BATTLING baby Kit Coussins is now a happy, healthy five-month-old – who has beaten the odds after suffering two heart attacks and a brain bleed.
The tot was born into heartache for parents Kim and Stuart, who had lost his twin brother in the womb at 21 weeks.
But as Stuart cradles his giggling son the pair reflect on the charity that “threw them a lifeline” by providing accommodation at the hospital when they needed it the most.
Kim said: “I’d barely accepted the fact I’d lost one baby and was terrified I might lose
Kit too. It made all the difference in the world to be able to spend precious time with Kit.
“It also allowed me to speak to other parents – even if it was just for two minutes in the kitchen while making a cup of tea – and share what was happening.
“It made the worst time of our lives that bit easier.”
Kit was delivered 12 weeks early on September 5, weighing just 2lb 6oz, while his tragic twin was also removed.
Then, at three days old Kit’s lungs
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stopped working, he suffered two heart attacks and was diagnosed with a stage three brain bleed.
It meant he needed to be transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge – a 90-minute drive from his 35-year-old parents’ family home in Southend, Essex.
The Sick Children’s Trust paid for the accommodation and support at the hospital for eight weeks, until Kit was well enough to finally go home. Kim said: “We were so grateful to them for putting us up, so we could spend every waking moment by Kit’s bedside.
“We’re now taking every day as it comes. We still enjoy the novelty of the little things like being able to dress him or put him in his car seat. “I’m sure we’ve been through the worst and our family can get through anything now.”