Our Evie ‘died’ for 77 minutes so we named her after the hospital that saved her life

attention last December. Kate is a patron of the Evelina Hospital and she and husband Prince William were there to kick-start celebrations for its 150th anniversary this year.

The hospital was founded in 1869 as Evelina Hospital for Sick Children by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, whose wife, Evelina, died along with their baby in childbirth.

Jo said: “It was about a month after her big-fix operation when Evie was invited back to the hospital to meet Kate and William.

“As soon as Kate came into the room Evie ran up to her and then when Kate moved on to chat to other kids Evie went over and tapped her on the back to get another cuddle. Evie would have had no idea who Kate was and there were hundreds of people in the room, but it was Kate who she was drawn to. She kept on handing her pencils and crayons.

“Kate’s reaction was lovely. She found it funny when Evie kept interrupting her and would just bring her in to join in the conversation.

NATURAL

“You could tell she was really good with children. She was just really natural and lovely.”

Jo recalled the 20-week scan and the shock that followed when they were referred to Evelina.

She went on: “We weren’t expecting them to find anything wrong, we just thought it was routine. So when we were told at Evelina that there was a major problem with our baby’s heart, it was a complete shock.

“The day after I didn’t stop crying. There were so many different defects – it was just too much to take in and we expected the worst.”

But using hypnobirthing techniques helped Jo to stay calm and relaxed during pregnancy and labour. She and Justin managed to stay positive – though Evie’s open-heart surgery at six weeks old tested them to the limit.

Jo said: “They had allowed us to stay with her and watch. When she had a massive cardiac arrest it was just awful.

“You see these things on TV and in films and it was as if we were in some kind of surreal nightmare. The doctors were saying they were doing their best, they were doing everything they could.

“And I was just thinking,

‘ That’s what they say on TV when the person is going to die’. All these thoughts were going through my head. I was thinking about having to tell our family she was gone, I was thinking about the funeral.

“But miraculously she pulled through. We will never ever be able to thank everyone at Evelina enough.”

PE teacher Justin, 50, added: “You wouldn’t know she’d been through so much. We’ve always treated her like any other child. She’s so strong-willed and determined. We have trouble holding her back sometimes – it’s just onwards and upwards now.”

To find out how Evelina London will be celebrating its special birthday, visit evelinalondon.nhs.uk/150