One Very Special Little Girl

Ok well I’m supposed to be doing some training but I am too excited now to work.

A few weeks ago I had an email from Tommy’s asking people to nominate children for their Champion Children’s Awards http://www.tommys.org/Page.aspx?pid=805

Well I have a friend with a very special daughter so I hesitated for about 30 seconds before deciding I was going to nominate her for an award.

I sent the following email:

I would like to nominate my friend's little girl E for this award.

E was born in Nov 2007 at 28 weeks gestation weighing a very tiny 1lb 4oz. Despite being so tiny she proved to everyone what a little fighter she is and after spending an amazing 5 months in hospital she was finally allowed home with oxygen. I'm not sure exactly when she finally gave up her dependency on the oxygen but it was a bit of a battle for her with numerous trips back to hospital with breathing difficulties. Once again E fought all the odds and has gone from strength to strength. She has been left with chronic lung disease and severe deafness because of her prematurity but she's on the waiting list for cochlear implants so that should see another improvement in her very limited speech. She is currently learning to sign with the help of her fantastic parents. She started nursery recently and this has given her mum and dad a well-earned break each morning because she a lovely but very lively little girl. She really does deserve to win this award because she has battled against the odds and come out fighting. She is a very special and wonderful little girl and her mum and the rest of the family would be so proud to see her win an award like this.

Her battle to survive was followed not only by friends and family but also an online community that both her mum and myself are part of. I cannot stress deeply enough what this little girl has been through and how much she means to everyone that knows her in real life and also online.

To be honest I had forgotten all about it until yesterday when I received a lovely email from Tommy’s stating the E had won an award and would be invited to an award ceremony in London but they needed her mum’s contact details.

I didn’t want to hand out private details so did a very candid text, tweet & Facebook post to get hold of her mum to make sure it was ok. I’m not sure how much sleep she got last night but I didn’t want to spill the beans until Tommy’s had spoken to her. Thankfully she was over the moon and is now frantically doing some retail therapy to find a new outfit for them both.

I’m so glad I made the right decision and have made her mum very happy. She is a very special little girl and really really does deserve this.