The Grand Appeal

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Heather & Mark Hall 🩵🩷

Heather & Mark Hall 🩵🩷

My Story

Why we're running...

In August 2023, our son Morris was born. From birth, he was producing green sick and couldn’t keep anything down. At our 3-day check, our midwife noticed he had lost a large percentage of weight so we were admitted to the GWH in Swindon. After overnight treatment for jaundice and other monitoring, it was noticed that Morris’s stomach was distended and he had turned grey in colour. Within minutes, he was taken to the Great Western Hospital NICU, where the consultant informed us that Morris was incredibly unwell and were unfortunately unable to treat him there. From that point, everything went so quick. 

At this NICU, we experienced our worst nightmare – our 4-day-old baby intubated, on antibiotics, and hooked up to machines. But we soon met the amazing WATCh team who blue-lighted us to the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. The WATCh team who looked after Morris were so kind – although the outlook was poor, they provided such great care whilst preparing us for every eventuality. When we got to Bristol, we went straight to Seahorse Ward (PICU) where we met Morris’s incredible surgeon. He was sensitive and informative, even when telling us that Morris had to go straight into surgery and that the survival rate was slim.

After 4 hours of waiting, we were told that Morris had miraculously survived the surgery but had suffered a rare event called a Spontaneous Neonatal Gastric Perforation. The survival rate for this is so low and I’m certain that without our surgeon’s incredible skills, Morris wouldn’t have made it. The next day, the nurses informed us that we could have a room in Paul’s House for free, just a stone’s throw away, thanks to Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal and the lovely Anne, their Family Accommodation Manager. I can’t begin to explain how grateful we were to not have to worry about where we were going to stay. Although we would spend all day with him, his nurses encouraged us to go back at night and sleep. One night, we received a call at 3am from the ward saying that Morris had deteriorated and needed a blood transfusion. We were able to be there in minutes. Being across the road from him at these times gave us so much peace of mind.

Throughout our stay, the amazing nurses in PICU arranged multiple activities for us to have small amounts of time away from the hospital with our other son, including a funded visit to the Aquarium and the SS Great Britain. These were also made possible through The Grand Appeal.

After a week, we moved to Penguin Ward and Morris underwent another surgery to correct a malrotation of his bowel. After this, his recovery was incredible. Thanks to the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, and the Grand Appeal, Morris is now a happy, lively 17 month old.

We would love to give back to this amazing hospital, and charity, in anyway we can. Please donate as little (or as much!) as you would like, and help Bristol Hospital and the Grand Appeal help other families like ours in their most desperate, vulnerable moments.

The Grand Appeal

Raising for:

The Grand Appeal
462%

Funded

  • Target
    £1,000
  • Raised so far
    £4,625
  • Number of donors
    84

My Story

Why we're running...

In August 2023, our son Morris was born. From birth, he was producing green sick and couldn’t keep anything down. At our 3-day check, our midwife noticed he had lost a large percentage of weight so we were admitted to the GWH in Swindon. After overnight treatment for jaundice and other monitoring, it was noticed that Morris’s stomach was distended and he had turned grey in colour. Within minutes, he was taken to the Great Western Hospital NICU, where the consultant informed us that Morris was incredibly unwell and were unfortunately unable to treat him there. From that point, everything went so quick. 

At this NICU, we experienced our worst nightmare – our 4-day-old baby intubated, on antibiotics, and hooked up to machines. But we soon met the amazing WATCh team who blue-lighted us to the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. The WATCh team who looked after Morris were so kind – although the outlook was poor, they provided such great care whilst preparing us for every eventuality. When we got to Bristol, we went straight to Seahorse Ward (PICU) where we met Morris’s incredible surgeon. He was sensitive and informative, even when telling us that Morris had to go straight into surgery and that the survival rate was slim.

After 4 hours of waiting, we were told that Morris had miraculously survived the surgery but had suffered a rare event called a Spontaneous Neonatal Gastric Perforation. The survival rate for this is so low and I’m certain that without our surgeon’s incredible skills, Morris wouldn’t have made it. The next day, the nurses informed us that we could have a room in Paul’s House for free, just a stone’s throw away, thanks to Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal and the lovely Anne, their Family Accommodation Manager. I can’t begin to explain how grateful we were to not have to worry about where we were going to stay. Although we would spend all day with him, his nurses encouraged us to go back at night and sleep. One night, we received a call at 3am from the ward saying that Morris had deteriorated and needed a blood transfusion. We were able to be there in minutes. Being across the road from him at these times gave us so much peace of mind.

Throughout our stay, the amazing nurses in PICU arranged multiple activities for us to have small amounts of time away from the hospital with our other son, including a funded visit to the Aquarium and the SS Great Britain. These were also made possible through The Grand Appeal.

After a week, we moved to Penguin Ward and Morris underwent another surgery to correct a malrotation of his bowel. After this, his recovery was incredible. Thanks to the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, and the Grand Appeal, Morris is now a happy, lively 17 month old.

We would love to give back to this amazing hospital, and charity, in anyway we can. Please donate as little (or as much!) as you would like, and help Bristol Hospital and the Grand Appeal help other families like ours in their most desperate, vulnerable moments.