A bit of a plea for a very good cause. This is a story from a mum whose child was hurt and treated by C&W A&E (This is a bit of a cut and paste from Sheerluxe's Mummy Diaries but I feel they will forgive me for doing this)
'Arlo was 17 months, Tuuli was 2 weeks old - I'd made lots of fresh veggie pasta sauce and things before Tuuli was born and froze it so I would have a good supply. In my sleep deprived state I couldn't decide if I could microwave the frozen sauce in the glass jar or not so thought I'd put some boiling water in a bowl and pop the jar in that before heating it. Arlo came running into the kitchen after a bike ride with my husband and without us seeing climbed up to reach the bowl at the back of the kitchen counter (which he had never done previously) and poured boiling water all over himself.
His skin started peeling off immediately; we put him in a cold shower for 10 mins, soaked one of Tuuli's swaddles in cold water, wrapped him in it and jumped in the car to Chelsea & Westminster. Thankfully it was when Andy Murray was playing the Wimbledon final so the roads were empty. We spent 30 minutes in A&E where they couldn't treat him as he was so disturbed screaming and crying. We went up to the burns unit and were given two options: fill him with morphine and do the dressings or try the new distraction therapy they were trialing. I'm much more option B and thought if it didn't work we’d revert to plan A.
The change was phenomenal -we went into a dimly lit room, with serene music playing, a nurse blowing bubbles, a twinkle light ceiling, an interactive video screen and within a minute he'd stopped screaming. The plastic surgeon could then assess him, he had his burns dressed and we walked out 30 minutes later with no need for medication or an overnight stay. He had to go back every day for six weeks to have his dressings changed and always looked forward to it because he saw the hospital as a happy place - truly amazing!
Every day, more than 100 children and babies wake up in London, unaware that their day will involve a visit to Chelsea & Westminster Hospital’s A&E department. The hospital’s A&E department was designed to take a footprint of 60,000 patients annually, yet it currently sees 112,000. The hospital is investing £10 million to expand the department and deliver care to 140,000 patients. CW+’s A&E&U appeal is focused on bringing outstanding art, design and innovation to the A&E redevelopment, transforming the way patient care is delivered. Clinical research shows that calming imagery and music can have enormous benefits on lowering blood pressure and reduce levels of stress hormones, and increasing immune response. Working with leading artists such as Brian Eno, Matt Pyke, Isaac Julien and Richard Woods, with money raised from the text appeal CW+ will be able to create a warm, safe and uplifting environment which offers the best emergency care to each of the 35,000 young patients the hospital sees each year.
Whilst we cannot prevent everyday accidents, we can strive to make these children’s stays as quick, pain-free and stress-free as possible.'
If you are able, please text ‘Arlo’ to 70500 and donate £5. Or alternatively click on the link below
Visit JustGiving.comhttps://www.justgiving.com/arlo-ae/
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