Hopes for Sophia to get a normal life
Donation protected
Our beautiful joyful daughter Sophia was just one year when that life changing accident happened. She swallowed a tiny button battery that she managed somehow to get from her dad’s wallet high on the shelf. The problem is that she did not choke on it. However, in late evening Sophia became ill and refused to eat her food. We rushed her to A&E for fever and vomiting. But it was not until five days later an x-ray showed that she had swallowed a small battery which had become lodged in the middle of her oesophagus and trachea. The x-ray was done only after multiple visits to hospital. We will never forget that day when our little Sophia fell unconscious on the floor. She was breathless and blue. We called 999 straightaway and took her back to A&E who had just discharged her 2 hours later with antibiotics. By that time, the battery had burned a hole through her oesophagus and windpipe. Sophia needed a life-threatening surgery which was not possible at that moment because she was critically ill and needed oxygen. Manchester hospital removed only the battery and kept her ventilated in intensive care for a week till she stabilised. Our little princess was fighting her life again when oxygen could not get to her lungs even though she was on a ventilator. Her heart failed as well. So, they rushed her to Alder Hay hospital in Liverpool for ECMO machine. Then after two days, she was flown to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London to have a bypass surgery and therefore repair the damage done to her oesophagus and windpipe. A part of her oesophagus was removed. Swallowing a battery generated electricity inside her and caused erosive burns through her tissues causing a massive hole. The doctors warned us that there was a high probability that she would not survive. Yet, she surprised them and us all with her strength and courage. And she required nine months of specialist treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and still needs to regularly visit Manchester hospital. She is mainly fed through a NG tube. She is still learning how to swallow properly without vomiting. She also has regular dilations to help her do so. During the last three years, several professionals, speech therapist, language therapist, dietitian, physiotherapist, and psychologist, are taking part in Sophia’s journey to help her reach developmental milestones that she had missed in hospitals.
Sophia has been having a more difficult time recently. Not only is she getting more distressed with her NG changes, but she is also struggling with her oral feeds. Food gets stuck which leads her to bring it up. Therefore, all teams agreed that the time has come to insert a gastrostomy. Tomorrow, she is having an urgent oesophageal dilatation and laparoscopic balloon gastrostomy insertion. We will be appreciative of any donations to help this little lady make her way to normal life. We are also ready to donate an amount of the money raised to the hospital that saved our daughter's life. We truly can never repay doctors, nurses, and hospital not staff for their amazing efforts, but it does not hurt to try. By giving our thanks to those who do a thankless job, we empower and motivate them to continue their hard work.
Sophia is now a three-year-old who likes playing doctors, scooting, but she still needs a lot more operations to help her fully recover. We are not stopping at just raising money for our daughter. We also plan to raise awareness regarding the issues surrounding children swallowing button batteries. We are telling anyone and everyone what our story and message on this is. We are trying to build as much awareness so that it is marked in history, so that we can have an annual button battery awareness day. The messages I have received from some moms I met have proven to me that this is worthwhile. One mom told me she had button batteries just laying around and thanked me for sharing my story. We cannot thank everybody enough for supporting, sharing, and registering as a donor to make this possible, we are forever grateful. We are so happy to be able to help fellow children, families, and members of the community we find ourselves a part of. Because of Sophia’s medical condition, we need to accompany her to different hospitals to get necessary treatments. This has drained us physically, emotionally, and of course financially. Sophia is such a determined little girl who has fought through every near impossible battle so far and she has done it all with love in her heart and a smile on her face! We pray that we can raise the funds to make her full recovery possible. Sophia has changed our lives and she deserves the chance to live her own life as normal as possible. She is beautiful, strong, funny, and courageous. There are so many obstacles we will be facing, not only emotionally, but financially since we are in £30000 debts. I cannot take away the emotional pain we are feeling, but I am hoping with this donation page I can at least relieve some of the financial burdens we will be facing. Please add our family to your prayers and please share this page with as many people as you can. Any donation that you can make will be life-changing. Thank you so much for being a part of our support team! I will update you with new photos of our soldier from hospital. Thank you.
Sophia has been having a more difficult time recently. Not only is she getting more distressed with her NG changes, but she is also struggling with her oral feeds. Food gets stuck which leads her to bring it up. Therefore, all teams agreed that the time has come to insert a gastrostomy. Tomorrow, she is having an urgent oesophageal dilatation and laparoscopic balloon gastrostomy insertion. We will be appreciative of any donations to help this little lady make her way to normal life. We are also ready to donate an amount of the money raised to the hospital that saved our daughter's life. We truly can never repay doctors, nurses, and hospital not staff for their amazing efforts, but it does not hurt to try. By giving our thanks to those who do a thankless job, we empower and motivate them to continue their hard work.
Sophia is now a three-year-old who likes playing doctors, scooting, but she still needs a lot more operations to help her fully recover. We are not stopping at just raising money for our daughter. We also plan to raise awareness regarding the issues surrounding children swallowing button batteries. We are telling anyone and everyone what our story and message on this is. We are trying to build as much awareness so that it is marked in history, so that we can have an annual button battery awareness day. The messages I have received from some moms I met have proven to me that this is worthwhile. One mom told me she had button batteries just laying around and thanked me for sharing my story. We cannot thank everybody enough for supporting, sharing, and registering as a donor to make this possible, we are forever grateful. We are so happy to be able to help fellow children, families, and members of the community we find ourselves a part of. Because of Sophia’s medical condition, we need to accompany her to different hospitals to get necessary treatments. This has drained us physically, emotionally, and of course financially. Sophia is such a determined little girl who has fought through every near impossible battle so far and she has done it all with love in her heart and a smile on her face! We pray that we can raise the funds to make her full recovery possible. Sophia has changed our lives and she deserves the chance to live her own life as normal as possible. She is beautiful, strong, funny, and courageous. There are so many obstacles we will be facing, not only emotionally, but financially since we are in £30000 debts. I cannot take away the emotional pain we are feeling, but I am hoping with this donation page I can at least relieve some of the financial burdens we will be facing. Please add our family to your prayers and please share this page with as many people as you can. Any donation that you can make will be life-changing. Thank you so much for being a part of our support team! I will update you with new photos of our soldier from hospital. Thank you.
Organizer
Zineb Sadouk
Organizer
England
