#chick (click chick to see more)
Well here is her story in short;
Charleigh Jayne Thomson 7.5.10 -16.2.14 Light of our lives.
Christina Thomson, gave birth
to 3lb 4oz Charleigh On 7th May 2010.
After a
difficult pregnancy, the bay was expected to be low birthweight.
But
immediately after delivery there was an added shock - Charleigh’s tiny heart
was not working properly.
She had
a hole in the heart and her pulmonary valve is blocked, which means the heart
cannot pump the blood around her body.
Charleigh
was rushed to the neonatal unit, where doctors gave her drugs through a line in
her arm to force the heart to pump.
Without
that she would have died there is no doubt that the unit saved #chick’s life.
Charleigh
was then moved to Great Ormond Street for
an operation to repair her damaged heart.
Charleigh
was one of 350 lives saved every year at the unit, which urgently needs more
cots and more equipment.
After her first heart repair
she was sent home well, and with another operation to follow as she got bigger.
Charleigh Thomson was then left
fighting for her life after the operation to fix her seriously defective heart
went sadly wrong.
Doctors
in Great Ormond Street Hospital were pulling out all the stops to make 19 month
old chick survive long enough for a donor heart to be found.
She was
just so poorly. The doctors were fantastic and they done everything they
possibly could. But Charleigh’s only hope was an urgent heart transplant.
She needed a new heart as soon as
possible, but had to wait until one was found and watched her fading away while
they waited.
Doctors adjusted the medication keeping Charleigh
alive and decided whether she would be strong enough for a stopgap solution, a
mechanical Berlin heart.
The
problem was that the operation to give her a Berlin heart was even more
complicated than transplanting a human heart. The risks of the surgery, because
Charleigh was so ill, were horribly high.
At the last minute the Berlin heart
was attached to Charleigh, with hopes of a transplant to come.
Charleigh stayed hospital bound for 255 days on the Berlin Heart waiting
for a Transplant.
But it would not last forever; she needed a new heart fast before her
heath failed.
Charleigh was awarded MK prides Bravery award for her fight for life and
captured the heart of everyone who heard her story and they fell instantly in love
with her when they saw her smile.
She even captured the heart of Milton Keynes’
Olympic gold medallist Greg Rutherford, who made a special trip to Great Ormond
Street to visit the sick children. #chick had a special smile just for him.
Finally, in the early hours of the morning on
August 23rd 2012 the, came then call every one had been waiting for.
After a tough recovery Charleigh was allowed home,
no machines, no mechanical heart. A normal (ish) life at last.
Charleigh suffered some rejection and came through
this but suddenly during a second bout of rejection grew her angel wings on
February 16th 2014.
She is missed by all and loved by all, and will
leave a lasting imprint on this world.
Do your bit to help raise awareness for CHD
(congenital Heart Defects) and Organ donation, which blessed Charleigh with
another full year and 9 months with her family.
Light of our lives, help save a life, or seven!
Sign the Organ donation register, you may need one,
one day.
Follow her fund'a progress on Facebook.
Search for Charleigh Jaynes Berlin Heart Fund page.
R <3 I <3 P Princess Your Memory WILL Live on! I promise!!
Oh poor lamb. You probably won't remember me but we did speak on Bear a few weeks ago when i was in with my daughter. I had no idea she had grown her wings, but may she rest in peace x such a beautiful girl xxx
ReplyDeleteThank you Gemma, Feel free to follow the story on blog and you can post to our website on www.charleigh-Jayne.webs.com
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