Lottie was born in Grimsby hospital, but just hours after her birth her mum Donna noticed something didn’t seem quite right.
Read Lottie’s #WarriorWednesday story…
Children’s Heart Surgery Fund is amazing. If it wasn’t for the charity, we wouldn’t have been able to stay by the side of Lottie while she was in hospital. The funding of the parent accommodation rooms takes so much pressure off parents when their world has been turned upside down. Also, with Lottie having an older brother and sister, this meant that they could come and stay over.
Lottie was born with Transposition of the Great Arteries. We were not aware of this condition. We’d never heard of it in our lives.
It is mainly picked up at your 20 week scan, but Lottie’s was missed. Around six hours after Lottie being born, I was questioning her blue coloured skin!
The midwife did her SAT’s, and they were at 20! She was in critical condition. Lottie was rushed to intensive care where she was put on a life support machine.
Grimsby hospital worked very fast at finding out what was causing this, got the Embrace team there and got Lottie to Leeds ASAP.
I couldn’t thank the midwifes and ICU enough on how fast they worked to save Lottie’s life. Our life was turned upside down in seconds!!
When Lottie arrived at Leeds, they got her stable, with some ups and downs along the way. But at just eight days old she underwent open heart surgery with Mr Jaber.
He is an amazing man and nothing can thank him enough for saving all these children’s lives!
After eight long hours, Lottie’s broken heart was fixed. After a few more days in hospital, we were allowed home.
Now Lottie is a happy, healthy two year old that can live a normal life. Thank you to all the amazing team at Grimsby and a big thank you to the amazing team at Leeds who saved Lottie’s life.
I think there should be more awareness of CHD and Transposition of the Great Arteries. If I had gone to sleep after having a long labour, I might not be writing this story today!
Children’s Heart Surgery Fund is just amazing at keeping families together at probably the hardest time of their lives.
On #WarriorWednesday, we celebrate the amazing heart heroes we support in our region.
We tell their stories to raise vital awareness of congenital heart disease and recognise the care of the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit.
If you would like to make a regular or one-off donation to help fund CHSF’s life-saving work, you can do so here. Thank you.
More from the blog…
Luca’s Story
When Luca was born, mum Emma and dad Michael discovered Luca had a very loud heart murmur. The day after, they were transferred from Jimmy’s to the Leeds Children’s Hospital for a heart scan. It was then when they received the congenital heart disease (CHD) diagnosis...
Running for a Reason: Louise
Bradford-based adult patient Louise McCormick received open heart surgery aged 7 at Killingbeck Hospital. Now 41, Louise celebrated her 40th year by completing an enviable set of running fundraisers for CHSF in 2024. She isn’t taking her foot of the pedal this year...
Alfie’s Story
17-year old Alfie’s family found out he had congenital heart disease (CHD) when he was just 2 months old. Following multiple procedures, Alfie is now enjoying life both as a teenager and keen LUFC supporter, as mum Kirsty tells us: “Alfie was only 7 weeks old when we...