Keep Me Close

During the summer of 2021 myself, my son and my fiancé (who was pregnant at the time) contracted covid. Stacey, my fiancé became very unwell and noticeably our unborn baby became very despondent.

On July 29th Stacey was rushed into theatre as doctors were concerned with our unborn baby’s future and she was delivered 3 months prior to her expected due date.

Our daughter, Sienna endured 79 days in hospital and the majority of her time was spent in Nicu. During her stay Sienna was also transferred to Bristol Children's Hospital to have brain surgery. One of the main reasons why Sienna was delivered early is because she suffered trauma whilst she was in the womb, Sienna had a grade 4 bleed to the brain and the doctors had advised us that due to the significant damage she will unfortunately face motoring issues on the left hand side of her body.

The roller coaster of emotions that the nurses advised you about were so very true, moments of good news were treasured but ultimately you live in fear.

A charity called Keep Me Close was able to offer accommodation whilst our daughter was under the watch of the hospital. This enabled us to spend more time by her side, whether we was reading to her, skin on skin or handling her cares which was either cleaning or feeding. Everything we were able to do was either creating a bond or most importantly helping with her brain development.

I am forever grateful that this charity was involved as I certainly do believe that it has helped create a sense of direction for our daughter and build a good foundation for her future.

On the 9th June I will be ascending on a journey like no other, I will not only be hiking Scafell Pike but also Snowdonia and Ben Nevis which happen to be the 3 highest peaks within the UK. The biggest challenge is to master all three within 24 hours!

I am hoping to raise a minimum of £3,000 for my chosen charity, not only to help families who are in a similar situation to ours but also to help with the general costs for helping to charity continue to support families