Louise's GNR 2022 Charity Page
Louise Pratt
My Story
Until Taylor was admitted for the first time to the paediatric intensive care unit at the RVI, I had never heard of the Sick Children’s Trust - happily I had never needed them as I had never had a seriously ill child in hospital.
On moving to intensive care from the bone marrow transplant unit, we instantly lost our hospital room and I wasn’t able to use a fold out bed in PICU. It was never an option to go home, so I thought I would have to either sit in a chair next to Taylor’s bed all night, bring the car in so I could sleep in there, or just sit on a bench outside. As well as the stress of knowing my son was seriously ill, I found myself worrying about what I would do with all our clothes, toys, belongings - everything you accumulate when you’ve been living in the hospital.
Then one of the nurses explained to me about this amazing charity, The Sick Children’s Trust, who provide ‘homes from home’ at major hospitals for families of seriously ill children. The rooms are beautiful and clean and comfy and all have telephones that can be used to contact the wards and for them to be able to contact you in an emergency. I felt a huge weight lift from my shoulders - at least that was one thing I didn’t have to worry about.
Crawford House, where I stayed, was within the hospital grounds and less than 5 minutes walk from Taylor’s bedside so I could be next to him all day and leave him to sleep at night. I stayed there 3 separate times over our 7 month hospital stay, always when he was at his most poorly.
I walked back to Crawford house happy on the good days, full of dread on the bad days, positive, sad, scared, tired. But it was always there for me - I felt safe. It was at Crawford house that another bone marrow transplant mum found me and we talked about this horrible journey we found ourselves on. It was Crawford house that I walked back to, numb, after being told that all options had run out and my baby would die in a few days. It was Crawford house who didn’t say a word when I left my things there for a few days after Taylor died because I couldn’t bring myself to move out. It was the lovely staff at Crawford house who hugged me and cried with me when I said goodbye and wiped my name off the whiteboard.
I want with all my heart to raise some money by doing the Great North Run for The Sick Children's Trust to repay their kindness and care and help them to fund their amazing invaluable work. I genuinely don’t know what I would have done without The Sick Children’s Trust, I owe them so much.
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Target
£400
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Raised so far
£1,040
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Number of donors
40
My Story
Until Taylor was admitted for the first time to the paediatric intensive care unit at the RVI, I had never heard of the Sick Children’s Trust - happily I had never needed them as I had never had a seriously ill child in hospital.
On moving to intensive care from the bone marrow transplant unit, we instantly lost our hospital room and I wasn’t able to use a fold out bed in PICU. It was never an option to go home, so I thought I would have to either sit in a chair next to Taylor’s bed all night, bring the car in so I could sleep in there, or just sit on a bench outside. As well as the stress of knowing my son was seriously ill, I found myself worrying about what I would do with all our clothes, toys, belongings - everything you accumulate when you’ve been living in the hospital.
Then one of the nurses explained to me about this amazing charity, The Sick Children’s Trust, who provide ‘homes from home’ at major hospitals for families of seriously ill children. The rooms are beautiful and clean and comfy and all have telephones that can be used to contact the wards and for them to be able to contact you in an emergency. I felt a huge weight lift from my shoulders - at least that was one thing I didn’t have to worry about.
Crawford House, where I stayed, was within the hospital grounds and less than 5 minutes walk from Taylor’s bedside so I could be next to him all day and leave him to sleep at night. I stayed there 3 separate times over our 7 month hospital stay, always when he was at his most poorly.
I walked back to Crawford house happy on the good days, full of dread on the bad days, positive, sad, scared, tired. But it was always there for me - I felt safe. It was at Crawford house that another bone marrow transplant mum found me and we talked about this horrible journey we found ourselves on. It was Crawford house that I walked back to, numb, after being told that all options had run out and my baby would die in a few days. It was Crawford house who didn’t say a word when I left my things there for a few days after Taylor died because I couldn’t bring myself to move out. It was the lovely staff at Crawford house who hugged me and cried with me when I said goodbye and wiped my name off the whiteboard.
I want with all my heart to raise some money by doing the Great North Run for The Sick Children's Trust to repay their kindness and care and help them to fund their amazing invaluable work. I genuinely don’t know what I would have done without The Sick Children’s Trust, I owe them so much.
