Our beautiful daughter Jessica was born in September 2011 with a severe heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This was diagnosed at her 20 week scan and we were initially told that she was unlikely to be suitable for surgery. However, a pioneering in-utero operation at 28 weeks to enlarge a hole in her atrial septum was carried out and she was able to make it to term and get through her first open-heart surgery at just eight hours old. Jessica underwent five more surgeries during her life. Her final surgery - the Fontan procedure - took place in December 2017. She initially made a good recovery but sadly passed away suddenly on 14th April 2018 at the age of 6. This is the story of a little girl whose half a heart overflowed with love. She was, and will forever be, our little miracle and brought joy to all who knew her.

Useful links

Support and information

Little Hearts Matter - a fantastic charity providing support and information for children with single ventricle heart conditions and their families.

Children's Heart Federation - another charity which helps children with congenital or acquired heart disease and their families across the UK.

Heartline - a charity supporting children with heart conditions and their families.

British Heart Foundation - the UK's no. 1 heart charity, helping to fund research and providing information about various heart conditions.

Child Bereavement UK - a charity which supports families when a child dies or is dying or when a child is facing bereavement.


Other Charities


Friends of PICU - a fabulous charity which helps support children in PICU at Southampton General Hospital and their families.

Lagan's Foundation - the UK's first and only National Charity to provide support and at home care to families with babies and children under the age of 5 diagnosed with acquired or Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) OR feeding difficulties

Pop n Grow - a national charity who supply free specially modified baby clothing to children in neonatal intensive care, special care and transitional ward care, paediatric intensive care and clothing to children up to the age of sixteen who require regular medical treatment.

Pyjama Fairies - a charity which provides children with surgical gowns and pyjamas.



1 comment:

  1. Tanvi22 September 2017 at 11:56

    Hi Jessica's Journey Team,

    My name is Anuj Agarwal. I'm Founder of Feedspot.

    I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Jessica's Journey has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 75 Heart Blogs on the web.

    http://blog.feedspot.com/heart_blogs/

    I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 75 Heart Blogs on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this!

    Also, you have the honor of displaying the badge on your blog.

    Best,
    Anuj

    ReplyDelete

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