You’ve done it! £1m raised to help severely ill and premature babies
AN INCREDIBLE £1m has been raised to help severely ill and premature babies at Wales’ largest hospital – and it’s all thanks to you!
The Noah’s Ark Charity launched its Tiny Lives Appeal two years ago to further support newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
While the campaign initially focused on providing much-needed medical equipment, the final push was to pay for a new emotional support service for mums and dads on the unit.
With the support of the Western Mail, South Wales Echo and WalesOnline, the charity’s aim was to raise £125,000 by Christmas to help it reach the £1m mark.
And thanks to our wonderfully generous readers, who were touched by our series of features about the unit throughout December, that total has been reached.
Noah’s Ark charity director Suzanne Mainwaring said: “We’re beyond excited to have hit our £1m target and absolutely delighted to say that the generosity of our supporters is already being put to good use – saving tiny lives.
“Over the past two years we’ve had the honour of working with some incredible people. There’s the neonatal intensive care unit staff, otherwise known by parents as ‘angels in scrubs’, the parents themselves who show such dedication and resilience in tremendously difficult circumstances, and of course the babies, all amazing little characters in their own right.
“Our supporters have taken the Tiny Lives cause to their hearts and worked tirelessly to raise this amazing sum of money.”
She added: “The NICU journey is a tough one, both for the little patients and their families. But thanks to all those who has supported the appeal, we can safely say that the incredible team that work on the unit now have some of the best equipment possible to care for babies born premature and critically unwell.
“We’re also so pleased to now be able to fund support services for parents to make that tough NICU journey just that little bit easier. Now that we have hit our £1m target, Tiny Lives will become a fund so that we can continue so support the neonatal intensive care unit as it develops and grows.”
One boy who benefited from the neonatal unit is George Bennett who stopped breathing just 15 minutes after being born.
Recalling his traumatic birth on July 16, 2016, his mother Laura said: “Six days before my planned C-section, I woke concerned that my baby had not kicked me through the night. At the hospital I was told that my baby was in foetal distress and whisked to the operating theatre. My husband made it by the skin of his teeth.
“George was born weighing 7lbs 8oz in a good condition. However, at 15 minutes old he crashed in my husband’s arms and required resuscitation.”
George was rushed to the NICU, leaving mum Laura, who was deeply unwell herself, unable to see her son for two days.
“We were told George was in dire straits, was on life support and that they were doing all that they could for him,” she added.
George was treated for hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a condition caused by a lack of oxygen that can cause brain damage. He was given therapeutic hypothermia which involved him being cooled for 72 hours and then warmed back up again. This innovative medical method aims to prevent and reverse damage caused to organs by lack of oxygen – but it was a very frightening experience for George’s parents.
Laura added: “We then had to wait an even more frightening 21 days to confirm that he did not have brain damage. His organs had also avoided any longterm damage but his gut and liver had taken a bit of a hit.”
During this time both mum and baby were diagnosed with sepsis, a lifethreatening condition which causes the