Messages of support have flooded in for a family who face being evicted from their home just months after their baby was born with a life-threatening condition.
Hannah Marsden and her partner Michael Lewis, originally from Leigh and living in Warrington, welcomed their daughter Mila-Boo into the world in June last year. But before they could even hold her, she was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital for treatment, and underwent her first open heart surgery.
Before Mila-Boo was even born, doctors had told the devastated couple that she had a life-threatening condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Medics told the couple they had three options - to terminate the pregnancy, to let nature take its course, or use all medical intervention possible to try and prolong their baby's life.
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After facing such difficulty to get pregnant, they knew they had to try everything possible to make sure she survived. Mila-Boo will now need at least two more heart surgeries to prolong her life to adulthood.
But to make the family's situation even worse, the couple were recently served with a Section 21 eviction notice on their flat, after falling behind with rent payments. Both Hannah and Michael, who have worked all their life, have had to take extra time off work to support Mila-Boo, and had to make the difficult choice to pay for food and energy, or rent.
Since publishing Hannah and Michael's story, messages of support have flooded in for the family. Writing on the ECHO's Facebook page Jo Sanderson said: "This is heartbreaking, surely someone can help them, the whole family have been through hell, it’s so unfair that they can be evicted from their home as well, someone somewhere must have a heart to stop it happening."
Mandy Sankey added: "It’s bloody hard, my daughter was in and out of hospital for the whole of her childhood and it costs an absolute fortune, travel, eating there and all the rest of it, and then there’s the stress. I hope they can sort it out."
Sandra Molloy also said: "Our daughter was born with this condition 35 years ago , and lived for half an hour. I’m so glad that the science has evolved so much and is successful. But my heart goes out to you, surely something can be done while they are going through this."
People also said how Hannah and Michael's story was heartbreaking and hoped a solution is found soon.
Hannah previously said: "My maternity leave has finished and my partner has been off this whole time. He was on statutory sick pay but that's up now because he's had 28 weeks.
"We did get some help from Universal Credit but that didn't cover everything and we have just been constantly behind. It's either been food or rent but my daughter needs feeding and nappies. She needs the heating as well because she can't get cold as her body won't be able to function."
Mila-Boo was due to go for her second open heart surgery in December 2022, but after suffering a blood clot, doctors said there was too much pressure on her heart for the operation to go ahead. The surgery has been rescheduled for later this month.
If she isn't able to have the surgery this time round it's likely doctors will have to stop treatment, meaning Mila's life-expectancy is likely to drop from around 40 years to twenty.
To add to their stress, they were served a Section 21 eviction notice on their rental home in Warrington by their landlord last month, meaning they face becoming homeless. They have set up a gofundme page in the hope to raise enough money to help with their housing situation.
You can donate to the couple's fundraising page here. Homeless charity Shelter has advice on what to do if you are facing a section 21 notice. For more information, click here.
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