LIFE-SAVING efforts of the Neonatal Intensive Care Units at both Worcestershire Royal and Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham will benefit from cash raised by a thankful county mum of three.
Siani Driver hit the fund-raising trail after the care shown to her son Dylan after his peaceful arrival on February 9 went a ‘bit wrong’ when he stopped breathing and had no heart-rate.
After a ‘wonderful’ planned home water birth, little Dylan needed resuscitation from his father and the attending midwives before he was taken to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital by ambulance.
The brave fighter was ventilated, cooled, given anti-seizure medication before being taken to Heartlands where he was placed in the NICU.
“We were told he’d suffered oxygen starvation and his brain had been damaged,” mum Siani said.
Initially, his EEG showed no activity and his consultant suggested she wanted to stop the cooling process early, remove his life support and take him off the anti-seizure drugs to see if they were suppressing his brain activity.
While she didn’t expect to see any change, she was proven wrong as Dylan’s brain was active which allowed heath chiefs to keep him on the cooling process for longer.
Because of his improvement, the brave baby boy was able to be moved back to Worcester which eased the strain on Siani and her family who were faced with daily trips from their Malvern home to Birmingham to be by Dylan’s bedside.
“We came to Worcester NICU and everything changed. He became a lot more alert and annoyed by his breathing tube, and by the Saturday was determined to have it out,” Siani said.
“We swallowed hard, dug deep and decided to trust him that he could breathe. His tube was removed, and – he did it. He breathed. And he’s carried on breathing independently. He’s putting on weight, moving, looking around, crying. Doing all the things an average baby does.
“He’s undeniably got some brain damage and will likely be affected by that to an unknown degree in the future, but he’s been given the best chance of having a great life, thanks to the incredible team of doctors and nurses at Heartlands and Worcester NICU.
“These people are absolute angels. Working under immense pressure with very few resources, they do 12 plus hour shifts without complaint, and the love they show to the little ones in their care is so hugely reassuring.
“Over the two weeks we were in hospital, they all made us feel so cared for, at home, and that they truly loved our son and were doing their very best for him,” she added.
The caring mum has already smashed her £1,000 fund-raising target to be shared with both NICU departments.
“Thank you so very much to you all for donating to this fund-raiser, you rock. It costs £1,000 per baby per day in the NICU so this money will help save precious little lives like that of Dylan,” she said.
Visit www.gofundme.com/f/dylans-nicu-fundraiser for more.
