Harriet Leech

What a roller coaster 2008 was……. Harriet was born on 22nd May, 2008 following a difficult pregnancy which culminated in an emergency section. At 16.21, she entered the world and was whisked away to have a tube passed to clear her airway. One doctor tried, then another before a paediatric consultant was called for. We could see that there was a problem but no one could tell us what was happening as they were looking after Harriet.

A quick photo was taken, whilst Harriet was turning dusky, then she was rushed away to NICU at Royal Blackburn. They ventilated her and then over night, both mum and baby were transferred to St Mary’s hospital.

The day after we met her surgeon who told her that she had been born with Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula (TOF) and Oesophageal Atresia (OA) which are rare congenital conditions that affect one in every 3,500 babies. This meant that she could not breath or swallow so at two days old, Harriet had her first operation.

This should have solved Harriet’s problems but we were soon to see that Harriet wanted to do everything her way. Her surgeon found that her oesophagus was not long enough to be joined to her stomach so he could only fix her breathing and fit her with a gastrostomy so she could feed. Now the race was on to get her to grow as the oesophagus grows in the first 3-4 months. She did well with her weight and St Mary’s managed Harriet and her replogle tube well so on 5th September she had a 12 hour operation to repair the OA. It took two surgeons to the surgery and it was so complicated but they managed a primary repair.

Following surgery, St Mary’s struggled to get Harriet off the ventilator so she was transferred to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital where she spent a further 4 months, bouncing between the Intensive Care Unit and High Dependency. It was found that Harriet suffered from severe reflux so she had another operation in December which was a success and resulted in her being discharged on 12th January, 2009.

A total of 33 weeks and 4 days was spent in hospital but thanks to everyone and the continued support we receive, Harriet is thriving.

That is why when we recently married, we asked for donations instead of wedding presents www.justgiving.com/kayandgaryswedding

We are aiming to raise over £850 for such a worth cause. They deserve every penny!

Gary and Kay Leech