Great attitude sees Holly shine
FROM BEING BORN EARLY TO BECOMING TOP GYMNAST
FROM the moment she was brought into the world this determined teen has put up a fight.
Born 12 weeks early weighing only 2lbs 9oz, equivalent to the weight of a bag of sugar, Gateshead girl Holly Beard’s parents feared for her life.
But now Holly’s resilience has shone through, overcoming the odds and stepping up to be an international gymnast champion.
While pregnant, mum Helen was travelling down to Hertfordshire to visit in-laws to celebrate her son Jacob’s first birthday. Unexpectedly Helen’s placenta abrupted in the middle of the night.
Shocked, worried and fearful, Holly’s dad James rushed Helen to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
After three days, Holly was delivered by an emergency C-section 12 weeks early and was ventilated in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
The 45-year-old mum-of-three said: “It was a real shock. I was very anxious when the hospital decided I needed an emergency C- section.
“I was also worried about my one-year-old who had never really had any time away from me.
“Once delivered, I only had a quick look at her before she was swiftly ventilated and incubated which was very distressing.
“It is such an alien environment that I found the hardest thing was not to panic when a machine started beeping.”
A couple of weeks later, just before Christmas, Holly became stronger and she was transported by a neonatal ambulance back home to the North East.
Taken by Addenbrooke’s Hospital to a Nottingham Hospital car park, two-week-old Holly was swapped into an ambulance before she was then cared for in Sunderland Royal NICU.
And on Christmas Day 2006, Helen and James received the best gift of all.
Staff were able to remove Holly’s CPAP breathing equipment and her parents could finally share their first cuddle with their daughter.
In the new year, Holly was moved to the Special Baby Care Unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead where she stayed for a further nine weeks.
Helen added: “I was desperate to get home but we had to wait until she was strong enough to travel.
“The staff at The Rosie [maternity hospital], Addenbrooke’s were so wonderful in caring for her, they eased our anxieties and helped us settle into a routine.
“They did everything they could to get us home for Christmas which I was extremely grateful for.
“The care she received and the support we had was outstanding in all three hospitals.”
After putting up a fighting spirit, Holly began to grow stronger and stronger every day.
For the first two years of her life, Holly suffered from bronchiolitis regularly but has no long-term disabilities.
At the age of three, Holly started gym tots at Dunston Activity Centre. Being very shy and quite small, Helen and James wanted to encourage Holly to get into gymnastics to improve her balance,
coordination and strength.
At the age of seven, Holly joined South Tyneside Gym club and she quickly moved to their senior elite e section just two years later.
Now aged 13, this committed teen from Gateshead trains 22 hours with coaches every week and has since gone on to compete
at a national and international level in acrobatic gymnastics.
Through her hard work and dedication, Holly has proudly taken home a bronze medal at the
British Br Tournament in 2017, an and a silver medal in Turin, Ita Italy in 2018, as well as being cr crowned the Primary Young Sport Sp Achiever award by SSP Gateshead Ga in 2017.
Her parents are bursting wi with pride with how their tin tiny little baby has grown int into an active, det determined young wo woman.
H Holly is passionate to continue to train and her dream is to rep represent Team GB in the future. H Holly said: “I find it stra strange when I look at bab baby photos to know that I was so little and poo poorly. It’s scary to see all of the tubes and wires that I need needed to survive.
“I don’t know if my early birth has made a difference to me today but my mam says that I am resilient and stubborn so I guess that those qualities may have helped me.”