Norah's summitter's for PICU

We're raising money for the fanstastic Friends of PICU. 

We have enlisted our friends to team up and tackle the 3 peaks national challenge in June. Climbing the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales in just 24hours! We have been working extremely hard, training as much as possible to ensure we complete this.


Any donation will help make an impact. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us.



Here is our story;

**WARNING- Long Post****
This was never made public but here is our story.

This is our daughter Eleanor in August last year, the day before she was admitted, happy, smiling, laughing after we had done a fairy trail.
Within 4 hours of having a cough overnight, we were in Winchester hospital with her in need of oxygen. As you can see in the video she was struggling to breathe. She was diagnosed with bronchiolitus which in most cases is manageable from home, but her lungs were just too little to cope and then everything changed.
An hour after this video, I felt her slip away from me, she very quickly turned blue and lifeless, she had stopped breathing.
The room filled with people and she was taken from me immediately receiving CPR and masked oxygen. They let me hold her tiny hand, then we're on the move to theatre 2 floors up. I was allowed to stay with her whilst they worked on keeping her alive. They managed to keep her going long enough to put her onto a ventilator to breathe for her, this is how they would keep her until her lungs became strong enough to work on their own. Getting to this point for me was amazing, the fact that she was still here, even if a machine was breathing for her.
Most people that go through these things say it was a blur, but for me I remember every detail, every face and it seemed to last a lifetime. I then got the news that we would need to transfer her to the PICU in Southampton.
I was terrified, I didn't want to move her in case something happened. I didn't want to leave her anywhere.
PICU have their own ambulances and arrived so quickly. They introduced themselves always talking to us and Eleanor and assured me I could be with her at all times. They transferred her onto a portable ventilator which went smoothly and we arrived in PICU that night. The staff were amazing and she had a nurse with her 24/7 who never left her side and allowed me to do the same. They provided a room across the corridor to stay in and encouraged us to go and rest but equally were happy for me to stay by her side, I couldn't bear taking my eyes off her on the machines (too much knowledge for me was a saviour as kept me sane knowing what all the machines were doing and that she was safe).
During our stay the nurses and doctors were exceptional, dedicated and kept us informed at all stages, they let me stay for everything including changing her tubes and letting me clean her. They took footprints and made birthday cards for family that birthdays came and went. They made the hardest time in our lives that bit easier. Each baby and child admitted got their own handmade blanket and a Friends of PICU 'ellie' elephant to keep, which we still have to remember how lucky we are.

We were one of the lucky families that got to take our little girl home, many families whilst we were there did not get that chance but they were very respectful to those families and others by ensuring their privacy at all times. Eleanor had a greuling few weeks ahead of her once awake enduring feeding tubes and relearning how to drink again but finally her battle was over and we got to go home!

Without this service of which we knew nothing about before this, we wouldn't be telling the same story.
We thought carefully about how we could help raise as much money as possible for them and wanted an actual challenge, one that we would have to work extremely hard to complete and so here we are!

Thank you to those who read this whole post as it was extremely hard to write down and anyone wanting to support us in our challenge will make a massive impact.