Three little miracles
04 July 2007
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Chelsea and Westminster provides specialist care to give a chance of life to sick and very premature babies.
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Chelsea and Westminster provides specialist care to give a chance of life to sick and very premature babies.
Anna and Andy Collier, of East Sheen, have set up the charity Three Little Miracles to raise £250,000 to buy medical equipment as their way of saying thank you to the staff on NICU whose expertise saved the lives of their triplets.
Anna says: “If it wasn’t for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, our babies would not be alive today. The care we received from the doctors and nurses on NICU was fantastic. They work long hours in a highly pressurised environment but they were brilliant.”
The couple’s triplets – identical twin girls Isabel and Emily and their brother Ben – were born prematurely at just 29 weeks on 8 January 2006 after Anna underwent an emergency Caesarean section at Chelsea and Westminster.
All three babies weighed in at less than three pounds and so they were immediately rushed to NICU where they spent the next 101 days fighting for life.
Anna says: “I had never seen a premature baby before and so when I saw our triplets for the first time it was a huge shock because they were tiny, red and sticky.
“The first four months of their lives until they were well enough to come home were an emotionally gruelling rollercoaster ride. Although none of the babies needed surgery, they had breathing problems, infections, blood transfusions and all three needed resuscitation at different times to keep them alive.”
Happily, Isabel, Emily and Ben all won their battle for survival.
Anna says: “We are so lucky because the babies are perfect in every way and they have not got any developmental difficulties despite being born so prematurely. We set up our charity to give something back to the hospital for giving our babies a chance of life.”
If you would like to donate to Three Little Miracles to help buy medical equipment for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Chelsea and Westminster, log on to the charity’s website www.3littlemiracles.com.