Fundraiser of the Year 2024
Croydon University Hospital
Danny Brooks from the Solace MEP team nominated Ickle Pickles as a charity for their annual Golf Day last year. The day was hugely successful, raising £34,000 for the neonatal unit at Croydon University Hospital, which Ickle Pickles has actively supported since 2019.
Julie Voong, Ickle Pickles’ Head of Peer Support, was invited to join their evening event as a guest speaker. She shared that “it was a beautiful warm and sunny day, perfect for golf enthusiasts. I was very proud to talk about Ickle Pickles and share my NICU story. By increasing awareness of neonatal care and its effects on babies, parents, and families, the NICU journey deeply resonated with the guests.”
Danny Brooks, from the Solace team, is a NICU dad and shared the story of his son Oscar to explain why the Ickle Pickles Charity means so much to him and his family.
Oscar’s story
“On 1st December 2019, my partner’s Mica’s waters unexpectedly broke five weeks early. It was a long five days but on Thursday, the 5th of December 2019 at 14:21 our little boy was born! Within minutes of Oscar being born, there was a team of doctors surrounding him and something wasn’t quite right.
He was taken straight to the special care baby unit in our local hospital as they said he required oxygen support. A few hours later midwives came in to take us down to see Oscar for the first time but we were greeted by alarm bells.
Oscar was extremely poorly and was in the middle of being taken to a higher-level special care unit. A team of doctors came to explain to us that Oscar was struggling with his breathing and he needed to be intubated in a level 3 special care unit.
Unfortunately, there were no beds at the level 3 units, but Croydon University Hospital had space for 1 baby at level 2. Oscar was then blue-lighted to Croydon University with me right behind. As Mica had had a C-Section she was unable to travel for a couple of days so I remained in the hospital by Oscar’s side.
NICU was eye-opening and the most surreal experience. When Oscar arrived at Croydon Hospital, they intubated and ventilated him which meant he would be put into an induced coma to enable his body to recover.
Oscar was intubated and ventilated for 36 hours before being weaned off oxygen over the next week. It meant Oscar spent the majority of his first week in an incubator. We learnt while we were in the hospital that each incubator costs in the region of £27,000 and only has a lifespan of 7 years! It can cost around £100k to set up one care station in NICU which is why Ickle Pickles’ work is so important.
Oscar’s vitals weren’t stable and his oxygen was extremely low, so the incubator allowed him the chance to stabilise and control his temperature and environment while also isolating him.
The team in NICU were amazing and they made sure we were looked after throughout such a terrifying experience.
When Oscar was 3 days old, Mica finally got to meet him and we both held him for the first time. It was the first time Oscar had been out of his incubator. Before that, we could only hold his hands through the little circles on the side of the incubator. We relied on the nurses to change and feed him due to all of the wires that were attached to him.
Croydon’s neonatal unit has a few live-in rooms as part of the NICU which allows some parents to stay and be close to their little ones. It is especially good for parents before being discharged as it gives you a couple of nights to have nurses and doctors on hand if needed.
It is scary enough taking a newborn home but even more so when they have been so poorly that you don’t know what to look out for.
We were extremely lucky to bring Oscar home on 14th December 2019 and he has made a full recovery. We cannot thank the NICU team enough for all of their support over the time we were there with Oscar and for getting him back on the road to recovery.”
The generous donations from the golf day, auction, and raffles are funding a Resuscitaire (the equipment used to stabilise the baby after birth) and reclining chairs for vital skin-to-skin time.
The Neonatal Team was truly moved by this remarkable donation and extends their heartfelt gratitude to Danny Brooks, the Solace team, along with all their generous supporters and partners.
Everyone involved can take pride in knowing they have contributed to making a big difference to small babies.