Neonatal unit saved our little boy Leo

Hi my name is Mary Angela and my husband (Johnny) and I are raising funds for our local neonatal unit who on the 29th April 2021 basically had to step in and save our little boys life .

Leo is a twin to his sister Annie and has 2 older siblings Darragh & Katie rose.

He was twin 2 and had a very traumatic and complicated birth. Annie was a vaginal birth and on entering our world had a very healthy Apgar score (signs of life) of 9/10. Leo’s birth unfortunately was the complete opposite. He was an Emergency Cesarian Section under General Anaesthetic and his Apgar score was 1/10 . He was extremely unwell. He was initially intubated as it took him over 5 mins to spontaneously take his first breath.

He then underwent a very tough 72 hours of cooling therapy to protect his little brain from any potential further damage from the lack of oxygen from birth. Within this period on 2 occasions we thought we had lost him as his vital signs started to drop after a suspected fit. However, the neonatal nurses and doctors were amazing and with a few interventions Leo continued to fight .

We named him Leo after Leo the lion as he was born and had to fight from the very start but we also felt very strongly regarding his name choice as all the special incubators in the neonatal intensive care units were Babyleo Tn500 incubators so it was also a sign.

Our hope is to raise enough funds to supply life saving equipment to the unit which would allow for resuscitation & delayed clamping . This would massively reduce birth trauma and allow for bonding before neonatal admission. Any extra funds raised will go towards staff well-being as the staff in that unit supported both myself and my husband through what I can only describe as the most traumatic time of my life . The neonatal unit is one place that no parent ever wants to have to enter and you will always leave that unit a different person because you take with you that trauma .

We acknowledge how very lucky we were to have being able to bring our little boy home with us.

Our fundraising events will be based around the number 72 - because of the difficult 72 hour period of cooling that our son had to endure in the initial days of his life .

There will be numerous fundraising events between the twins 2nd and 3rd birthdays to help raise these funds.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story and the reason behind our fundraising.

Mary Angela & Johnny