Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals, with the broadest range of dedicated children’s healthcare specialists under one roof in the UK. The hospital’s pioneering research and treatment gives hope to children who have some of the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions. Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity needs to raise vital funds to enable the hospital to provide world-class care for the patients and their families. You can find out more about what we do by visiting www.gosh.org
Since 2010, Roofing Racers have been fundraising for our neuroscience wards, after Russell Pagan’s son Christopher was admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital. He received care on both our old ward and our newly opened Koala Ward.
Roofing Racers have contributed over £180,000 so far towards Koala Ward over the past four years. These donations have been used to fund a number of different areas throughout the Ward, including:
• Bedroom facilities, such as fold-out beds for parents to stay with their children.
• Play areas and play specialists to help the children have fun, recover and help them to understand their illness.
• Essential state-of-the-art equipment that falls outside of what the NHS can provide.
Challenge events, like the London Triathlon that some of you took part in, altogether contributed £4 million last year to the hospital, which makes a massive difference to the care they can provide
ADDING IT UP
The hospital relies on donations to be able to do the amazing things it does. Here are just a few examples of where our donations go:
• £30 could fund an hour of research time, helping doctors to improve diagnosis and find new cures and treatments for very sick children.
• £50 could help give one of our families a good night’s sleep in the hospital’s parent and family accommodation, and let a poorly child stay close to mum or dad.
• £95 could fund a support worker for a day, providing emotional and practical support to patients and their families, when and where they need it most.
• £39,000 would by a head box which is part of the brain wave monitoring device used in the telemetry unit in Koala. Equipment is expensive which is why having the funds made available from SIG Roofing Racers allows us to keep planning for the area we most need it in within the ward.
To find out more about what your donations mean to us please visit www.gosh.org/donate
THANK YOU
Roofing Racers have made such a huge difference to GOSH and we are very pleased to be a part of your fundraising through the London Triathlon.
We would like to thank you all on behalf of the children, parents and staff for everything you have done and continue to do to raise such an amazing amount. We look forward to working with you for many years so the hospital can continue to offer the best care possible to the patients in Koala Ward.
You can find out more about how patients are benefitting from the care in Koala Ward by reading Rudy’s story below.
RUDY’S STORY
When Rudy was five years old he was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) to undergo an operation to remove a brain tumour. Rudy’s dad, Sam, shares their story.
“Rudy was five when he suddenly started being sick for no apparent reason. For the next five months, he didn’t eat very much and had no energy. The spells of sickness became more frequent and lasted for longer. This got progressively worse until Rudy couldn’t attend school any more, which was really hard because he missed his friends. As well as nausea, we noticed that Rudy had started rolling his head and slapping his feet as he walked.”
“After a particularly harrowing holiday in Cornwall, during which Rudy didn’t eat for three days, we sat down and decided that enough was enough. We saw a private consultant paediatrician and after watching video footage of Rudy’s unbalanced walking, the consultant instructed us to pack a bag and go straight to the A&E, where they wanted to do a scan of Rudy’s brain. My heart sank as they explained that Rudy had a sizable tumour and that this was stopping the flow of cerebral spinal fluid to his brain. They said we needed to go straight to GOSH for an operation to release the pressure building up in his brain. I’d always associated the hospital with really sick children, so I felt incredibly scared.”
“We arrived at GOSH and went to Koala Ward, where we met the most reassuring and calm team of staff. It felt like one of their jobs was to look after the parents as much as it was to look after the children.”
“Our surgeon, Mr Kristian Aquilina, spent time explaining what was going to happen next. He understood what a shock it was to hear all this new information. Rudy had his first operation the next day. The doctors released the pressure in his brain and took a sample of the tumour for examination. Tests revealed that Rudy’s eyes were in a very bad way and Consultant Ophthalmologist, Mr Richard Bowman, explained that if the tumour had been left any longer, Rudy’s vision would have been compromised. The seriousness of his condition was just setting in.”
“We were told that Rudy had a rare kind of benign brain tumour called pilocytic astrocytoma. Previously, chemotherapy had been mentioned as a treatment option, but now we were told that Rudy needed to have a risky operation to remove the tumour.”
“The operation took a nerve-wracking six-and-a-half hours. Afterwards, there were a few complications and Rudy had to stay in recovery for quite a while. His condition worsened and Rudy was unable to feel the right side of his body. A scan revealed a blood clot had formed in his brain, which was almost the same size as the tumour. Mr Aquilina operated once again to release the air and remove the blood clot.”
“The following days remained worrying as Rudy’s recovery was slow and variable. One week later, though, we had our first good day with no headache, temperature or vomiting – Rudy was on the up at last.”
“During Rudy’s recovery, the nurses on Koala Ward were fantastic. They all fell in love with Rudy and looked after him as if he was their own. I’d frequently find the nurses dancing around Rudy’s bed and making him laugh. Whether it was the volunteers that played with Rudy so I had time to talk to the consultants, Mr Aquilina popping in on his weekend off or Syed, the cleaner, who helped me change Rudy’s sheets, everybody worked together to make Rudy better. I’ve counted over 75 people who helped Rudy in one way or another, and I can’t thank each of them enough.”
“The future looks good for Rudy. Our consultant recently told us that we don’t need to go back to hospital for another six months, which is a great boost. It’s the most humbling place I have ever been in my entire life. Without them Rudy wouldn’t be here today.”
