Parents have issued a heartfelt thank you to the 'unsung heroes' at Nottingham City Hospital who saved the life of their daughter who was born without a pulse. Police officer Robin Gurney and his partner Sianne welcomed their twin daughters, Orla and Freyja, into the world on December 18, 2020, at Nottingham City Hospital.
It was a testing time for the couple who explained young Orla, who was second born to sister Freyja, "came out with no pulse". They were on the neonatal ward for nearly a month, and Mr Gurney said: "If it wasn't for them she wouldn't have made it." Baby Orla required lots of CPR and medical intervention.
But she's now thriving and Mr Gurney is raising money for the hospital by taking on a gruelling 36 hour triathlon. Mr Gurney, 27, said: "They were the nicest people you could have met, all the staff, doctors, nurses, reception staff, everyone was brilliant."
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Orla had had a haemorrhage between her skull and scalp and it was struggle to clot her blood. After her time with the City Hospital neonatal team, she was transferred to a hospital in Birmingham before she spent three weeks at the Queen's Medical Centre.
Orla's organs had been affected due to the lack of oxygen. But, thanks to the support of specialist teams and her loving family, Orla is doing really well.
Mr Gurney has completed an array of charity events in the past, and decided to do something for Nottingham University Hospitals to show his appreciation for the support Orla received from the teams he has described as "unsung heroes".
Mr Gurney said the unit can "go a bit unnoticed really in a way". He said: "I feel that sometimes they are unsung heroes as a lot of people after it don't really want to talk about it.
"I wanted to do something to give back to them to say 'thank you'. But I know in the grand scheme of things, of all the money that they need, it's a drop in the ocean. It's a very special place to us both in a weird way: it was the best time of our lives when they were born but also the worst time of our life as well.
"I needed something that was difficult but also that people would understand. A lot of people have run 5k or something like that, and cycled or swam in their lives, so its something that people can almost relate to almost, in that they will know how difficult it is to do that for 12 hours."
He will be completing the challenge around Nottinghamshire, which will include swimming 18 miles in laps at a University of Nottingham Pool, before cycling 160 miles in a loop around Wollaton Park and Attenborough Nature Reserve. Mr Gurney will then run 52.4 miles in loops around Nottinghamshire, and said he hoped to finish either at Nottingham City Hospital or the University of Nottingham.
In September 2018, he took part in a 36 hour triathlon for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, but, after each 12 hour event, he had a 12 hour break. For this triathlon challenge, Robin will not be having any breaks.
Mr Gurney said: "I'm just really excited for it now, and I know there's a lot of people that are joining for the run and that's the last one so I will have a good support network around. It's only 36 hours of my life, so I feel like I can do it and it will be an incredible feeling once I have done it as well."
So far hehas raised more than £2,100 of his £2,500 goal on his JustGiving page. He said: "It's fantastic. It spurs you on even more as you see the amount that you are raising and know how much of a difference it is going to make."
Charity Stow, community fundraiser at Nottingham Hospitals Charity, said: “We’re so moved by Robin’s story and the fact he’s chosen to raise money for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where his daughter was treated. The 36-hour triathlon sounds like a huge challenge but we know that Robin has been training hard and we wish him the very best of luck when the day arrives.
“The money Robin raises will help other families like his during their time at the Neonatal Unit, by helping to provide things like specialist equipment, family rooms and support for parents during this difficult time.”
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