“While our time at Leeds was extremely difficult, it was made so much easier through the help of Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.”
Ashley is mum to heart warrior Autumn, who had heart surgery at the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit when she was just 13 hours old.
16 months on, Ashley decided she wanted to raise funds for CHSF and organised a tuck shop at the college she works at. She even went in on her day off (with Autumn in tow) to run it!
Ashley said:
“Autumn was born with an undetected heart structural issue called Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC).”
TAPVC is a rare congenital heart defect. It accounts for 1% of all congenital heart defects.
“At just 13 hours old, Autumn underwent open heart surgery at Leeds Children’s Hospital. We spent two and a half weeks on PICU, and a further two and a half weeks on Ward L51 and while our time at Leeds was extremely difficult, it was made so much easier through the help of Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.”
“CHSF helped us so much and we cannot thank them enough”
“Here are just some of the ways in which CHSF helped us…
- We were able to stay at Eckersley House through the support of CHSF.
- Autumn was on an ECMO machine and CHSF donations help to purchase these life-saving machines.
- I was able to express breast milk for Autumn using top equipment, funded by CHSF, enabling Autumn to get the best nutrition while recovering.
- They gift all children that have had open heart surgery with a Katie Bear teddy, certificate and medal.
- We were given petrol support to go home when we needed, and food vouchers which really helped a breast-feeding mum.
Children’s Heart Surgery Fund helped us so much and we cannot thank them enough – a lifesaving charity.”
Lauren, CHSF Community Fundraiser said:
“I had the pleasure of meeting Ashley and her husband Tom, and it was clear to see their enthusiasm to raise funds for CHSF.”
“The tuck shop at Barnsley College went down a treat and it was fantastic to hear the amount they raised was being matched by local business Oiltek.”
“I then had a further surprise when Ashley confirmed that in addition to the tuck shop funds, they had a further £685 in donations from family and friends on an online fundraising page. This brought their total raised to £979! We can’t thank them enough.”
Feeling inspired? Check out our Get Involved page to see how you can start fundraising for CHSF.
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