When Daniel was born in November 2016, he didn’t arrive the way his family was expecting. Mum and dad, Jodie and Warren, tell the story of their little ‘Braveheart’.

Warren said, “We visited the hospital for a planned induction, but as soon as Jodie’s waters broke, we knew something was wrong. The doctors struggled to find Daniel’s heartbeat, so Jodie had to have an emergency c-section.

“After Daniel was delivered, it took 25 minutes for him to start breathing. The doctors told us that because he had been without oxygen for so long, he would have serious brain damage. At first we were told Daniel would only live a few hours, and that we shouldn’t plan for anything.”

Jodie added, “We felt helpless; every day we were just waiting for him to pass away, and so were the doctors. That’s when we were told that Bluebell Wood could help with end of life care. We came to look round while Daniel was in hospital and we knew if he was going to pass away, we wanted it to be at Bluebell Wood.”

On the 14^th November, Warren and Jodie made the difficult decision to take Daniel off his ventilator and see if he could breathe on his own.

“We said our goodbyes to him, and held him in our arms while the doctors removed the ventilation tube. Then we waited…and waited…and suddenly he started breathing by himself. Over the next few weeks Daniel faced further battles, but eventually – just after Christmas – we were able to take him home for good.

Daniel and his family now visit Bluebell Wood for short breaks, where Daniel enjoys playing on our Magic Carpet and having lots of fun with our Care Team.

Jodie said, “For us to come to Bluebell Wood to have fun rather than end of life care is amazing for us. When we’re at home it’s all about medicines and appointments. Coming to Bluebell Wood means we can just be a family and not worry about those things. We feel really comfortable here; you can come and just be yourself.”

Warren added, “We still have a lot of ups and downs but we try to take things day by day. When Daniel was born we were told he would only live for a matter of hours, so it’s amazing we can plan a visit to the hospice even a week in advance.

“Donating just £1 to Bluebell Wood would make such a difference to our family. Bluebell Wood has helped us make so many wonderful memories, and do things with Daniel that we never thought we could.”

 

Help families like Daniel's make every moment count