Many families may feel they had enough on their plate if they were adjusting to life not just with a new baby but with a newborn with additional needs.
Yet one St Germans family who were doing just that also managed to organise a huge fundraiser for the hospital unit whose staff they thank for saving the little one’s life.
Susie, 31, and William, 26, Hall, of Cowslip Walk, have just handed over the £1,000 raised through the New Year’s Eve party they organised in the village for Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital neonatal intensive care unit as thanks for what the team there did for eight-month-old son George.
Mrs Hall, who also has elder children Oliver, aged nine, and Rebecca, aged seven, said: “The more you think about it, the more you realise what these people have done.
“Although they will tell you they are just doing their job we are so grateful and without fundraising they wouldn’t have all these machines to help these babies. To me it wasn’t enough to give a bunch of flowers or box of chocolates.”
George was delivered by emergency caesarean weighing 12lb 4oz at 4.44pm on May 9 after getting into difficulties in the womb and it took four-and-a-half minutes for medics to tease his first breath from him.
By 11pm George was being transferred to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital because Lynn staff believed he needed more specialist treatment than they had the facilities to offer. Doctors there told Mrs Hall that if it were not for the swift action of staff in Lynn, George may not have survived.
George still needs assistance to feed and a scan has revealed some brain damage but only time will tell how severe it is.
Mrs Hall said: “He’s a bright and happy little chap and we have been told that physically he should be fine.
“So far he is doing what he should be doing at his age and we won’t know much more until we meet various milestones.”
Mrs Hall’s brother Adam Chapman, 27, of Walpole Highway, had his chest waxed at the party to add to the funds raised. The family also secured a raft of raffle prizes from local firms.
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