Family’s fundraiser to help ‘magical’ Daisy
A LITTLE girl who “lights the room up” with her smile was given a 50/50 chance of surviving to see her 10th birthday.
When Daisy Hatton was born at Whiston Hospital her parents Scott and Mel were told she had a hole in the heart and she was taken straight to Alder Hey Hospital.
She underwent heart surgery at just six months old in June 2019, which was successful.
But when Daisy continued to experience heavy breathing caused by pressure in the right side of her heart, she was referred to Great Ormond Street hospital in London.
In April 2020, Daisy’s parents said their “lives changed forever” when they received a video call from the hospital to say Daisy had a serious heat condition called pulmonary hypertension.
Scott, 29, from Runcorn, said: “When we went down to Great Ormond Street hospital that’s when they said she’s got a mild case of it and there was a 50 per cent chance that she would make it to 10 years old and a 50 per cent chance she won’t.
Scott said himself and Mel, 34, felt “devastation” on hearing the news of Daisy’s diagnosis.
He said: “You just feel completely hopeless knowing there’s nothing you can do to help her or fix her.”
Scott described Daisy, who was born with Down’s Syndrome, as an “amazing and “magical” little girl.
He said: “She’s funny, she’s different. She’s the most confident child in the world – she’s just magical.
“I know every parent is going to say this but she lights the room up.”
Scott and Mel have recently been given some hope for Daisy in the form of a new treatment which is currently being developed called the HybridHeart.
The HybridHeart project, which is in its early stages, aims to create an “artificial heart” to provide a permanent cure for heart failure patients.
The family are now aiming to raise “as much money as possible” to donate to the project to help save Daisy’s life.
Scott said: “If we can raise awareness and get donations together then hopefully we can get this Hybrid Heart rolled out.
“We feel like we finally have something to push for and something to raise money for.
“It’s our only stand to save her.” Scott and Mel hope sharing Daisy’s story will help to raise awareness of pulmonary hypertension and help others suffering from the condition.
To mark pulmonary hypertension awareness week, November 1-7, Scott will be cycling 21km a day with money raised going to the HybridHeart project.
Mum Mel will be walking 2.1km a day with Daisy and her fourmonth-old brother Jaxon.
In a message on the go fund me page, Scott said: “For anyone that has the joy of being of a parent, you can understand the devastation this left our family in, to be told your daughter is terminally ill. “I love my children more than life itself and I refuse to believe in a world where Daisy isn’t in it.
“Daisy is my inspiration to get up every morning and I want to raise as much as we can, to give her the best chance of surviving this condition.”
● Visit www.gofundme.com/f/ daisy-bears-pha-fundraising to donate.