Sponsored post in collaboration with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Today I wanted to pop on and highlight Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the important and amazing work they do.
Alder Hey cares for over 275,000 patients and their families every year. Since April 2013, over £43m has been raised for a range of life-saving medical equipment, research and facilities that make a huge difference to families. They continue to need support for research, tech innovation, their fresh food-on-demand service and more – you can see how donations have helped the hospital here.
There are many ways to get involved with raising money to support Alder Hey Children’s Charity:
Bake Sale
Christmas Carols
Sponsored Silence
Bring and Buy Sale
Film Night
Coffee Morning
Sky Dive
Teddy Bears Picnic
Dog Walk
To increase funds and give back Alder Hey Children’s Charity have set up a running hub, designed to support individuals who wish to undertake sporting events on behalf of the charity.
You can find out more about running training plans and programmes over on their site. They have a 5k training plan, a full guide to running a marathon and everything in-between – all bases are covered. They also have a calendar with all the upcoming running events so you can sign up to something that suits you.
Daniel’s Story
For the first few years of Daniel Bell’s life, he was like any other toddler, full of energy, happy and full of life at home in Ormskirk, but doctors soon discovered Daniel had a brain tumour the size of a fist.
At aged three, mum Rosalind and dad Colin, had noticed a change in Daniel’s behaviour. He wasn’t the same happy go lucky toddler he used to be. Rosalind explains “His personality literally changed. He was grumpy had lots of tantrums, was sick and went back to sleeping in the day too, which was the total opposite of what he was previously.”
Thankfully Rosalind recognised some of the symptoms of a brain tumour. Daniel was taken to Ormskirk A&E who quickly realised the severity of the situation and Daniel diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Daniel was rushed straight to Alder Hey which is a centre of excellence for brain conditions. “It was like the bottom had fallen out of my world, our lives changed in a split second. We were told he needed to go to Alder Hey right away and we were blue-lighted to Liverpool,” says Rosalind.
Once at Alder Hey, Daniel was taken straight to theatre where Neurosurgeon Ms Sasha Burns drained fluid on his brain during a 3 hour life-saving operation and the next day Daniel’s tumour was removed during a 9 hour operation by Mr Conor Mallucci, who recently featured in BBC2 documentary Hospital.
“Mr Mallucci told us that Daniel had a cystic tumour which was the size of an adult’s fist and there was a possibility of Daniel losing motor and mobility skills as the result of the procedure,” explained Rosalind.
The operation was a success, helped by the use of Alder Hey’s 3-T MRI scanner, a pioneering scanner which allows surgeons to scan the brain in theatre. Alder Hey is the first hospital in Europe to have this kit, which was paid for by Alder Hey Children’s Charity.
“It was 6pm when we heard that Daniel was out of theatre. We were approaching HDU to see him when we heard Daniel shouting at the nurses. I have to admit it was the best sound ever,” said Rosalind. “Mr Mallucci said that the operation ‘went perfectly’ and that he had successfully managed to remove the whole of Daniel’s tumour. We spent 6 days on HDU to recover and then went to the neuro ward for a week. The nurses were incredible,” said Rosalind.
Rosalind said: “When we got the scans from Oncology which told us that no further treatment was needed it was an amazing relief. I cried a lot after that.”
Daniel is now a healthy and very active little boy and also a budding actor. “Daniel is really happy. He is a cheeky little kid and he loves being with his friends. He has performed in Little Shop of Horrors with his local Performing Arts Club and he loves to raise money for Alder Hey Children’s Charity.”
As a result of his fundraising, Daniel was named a Fundraising Ambassador for Alder Hey Children’s Charity, which made everyone in the Bell family very proud. “I was really emotional when they told us that Daniel was to be an ambassador for the charity. It is an honour and a privilege,” said Rosalind. “Alder Hey is such an inspirational place full of amazing people. The staff put the children first often at the expense of their own time. It is impossible to put into words how world class they are at what they do. We are fortunate to have them on our doorsteps.”
All of the Alder Hey Children’s Charity ambassadors help to raise money for the charity so that it can continue to provide vital funds to provide life-saving medical equipment and facilities that make a real difference to families every day.
Recently the charity installed distraction technology in many rooms to help divert attention away from the treatment or medical examinations that need to be carried out by medical staff, and to entertain young patients with colourful, bright and positive images projected on the walls. This immersive technology helps to transform a white walled room into a magical world where children can escape from reality and be free from fear and anxiety.
To be able to continue to provide innovative solutions such as the distraction technology and provide vital funds for Alder Hey, the charity relies on the support and kindness of the public. I mentioned earlier in my post about the different methods people can use to fundraise. Just as a little reminder, Alder Hey Children’s Charity recently launched a brand-new running hub to inspire and motivate people to run for charity. You can find running tips, guides, recipes and more. Find out more over on the Alder Hey Running Hub.