Leeds dad whose newborn baby spent 2 months in hospital prepares to run London Marathon
His family were able to stay by her bedside at the LGI thanks to a house run by the Sick Children's Trust
A Leeds dad whose baby girl spent 2 months in hospital fighting for her life is preparing to run the London Marathon.
Jason Crowley's daughter Seraphina – known as Sezzie - was just 11 days old when she was rushed to the LGI with heart failure and sepsis in 2005.
She spent a month in intensive care in and out of comas after suffering a near fatal infection, and a further month in the cardiac unit.
“It was immensely hard,” says Jason.
“We went to the doctor’s, she was very poorly, and the doctor said ‘can you take her to the hospital’. And it was in the car park when her mum screamed and said ‘she’s not breathing’.
“It was that day that everything changed.”
Throughout Sezzie’s time at the LGI, her dad Jason, mum Amy and brother Seeger, then 2, were all able to stay on the hospital site at Eckersley House run by The Sick Children’s Trust.
It provides a place for families to stay so they can be near to their seriously ill child when they are being treated in hospital.
“They have playrooms on each floor and they also have a play yard at the back of the building,” says Jason.
“This meant we could keep as normal family life as we could.
“So we had a routine where we would take Seeger to nursery, pick him up, and be with Seraphina on the ward. And we were able to stay together as a family.
“If it wasn’t for the house being there, only one of us could’ve been with Seraphina and the other would’ve had to be with Seeger so we’d have had to be broken up.
“And she was so poorly that even five minutes from the ward was sometimes almost too much. So it just made a massive difference that everyone could be together.”
Nine years on, Jason’s preparing to run the London Marathon this Sunday despite suffering from asthma, back problems and a knee problem. He says the training has been going well, with Sezzie regularly sending texts and calling to check where he is and make sure he’s okay.