A six-year-old girl who is lucky to be alive was given her dream garden by a landscaping company.
Lorenna Neale has spent much of her life in and out of hospital due to a chronic lung condition which caused her airways to collapse before her dad Aaron managed to resuscitate her. Lorenna is also fed through a tube in her stomach and is “unsteady” on her feet due to growing up in hospitals.
But thanks to Ultra Decking, a company based in Warrington, the garden of the family's home has been transformed so that it is more accessible and safe for her to use. They worked with the charity WellChild’s Helping Hands to level out the garden so Lorenna can access it from the backdoor and play safely on a swing set.
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Dad Aaron, 37, told CheshireLive how Lorrena lost her twin brother, Mason during their premature birth. He said: “She was fighting for her life in the neonatal unit in Brighton, the Trevor Mann Baby Unit. We managed to take her home after nine months. When we got her home, we realised she had another problem.
“One night, my wife went upstairs to see why she was coughing and her airways totally collapsed and I had to resuscitate her on the bed. My wife had to get the oxygen cylinders from downstairs. She was plugging in the oxygen cylinders while my other kids were running around crying thinking she was dead.
“I managed to get her back, and then we went to the hospital and that is when the long road started because then they found out she had a collapsed airway.”
This was when a hard journey began for Aaron and his wife Coleen, 33. Lorenna had to have a tracheostomy inserted and was hooked up to a mobile ventilator for over three years, which the couple had to be trained to use. Aaron said that the house was turned into a ‘mini-hospital’ to meet Lorenna’s needs.
Recently, Lorenna has gotten stronger and they have managed to wean her off the ventilator followed by the tracheostomy. Even though she has recovered from this, she still has a gastrostomy which means she is fed through a tube into her stomach when needed.
Aaron said: “She’s got learning difficulties, she has got high spectrum autism that they are in the middle of diagnosing at the moment. It’s quite difficult for them to do because of Covid, everything has just taken a backseat. But now it is just onwards and upwards.”
The family have also suffered another loss when their daughter died in November after Coleen had a medical emergency while pregnant. The garden has been a source of happiness and positivity for the family, who have been through so much.
Aaron said: “Since 2015 when Lorenna and Mason were born, it has been pretty mental. It’s been really nice to show a bit of light at the end of the tunnel and that garden has helped us.
“She is loving life and she is loving the garden that the guys provided, and we are loving seeing her and all the family considering what has happened.”
Lorenna now loves to perform her violin to her parents from the elevated platform in the garden, making it her own stage. The family have also added tables and chairs and lights to the decking area.
Aaron said: “It's changed our lives, we are out there at every opportunity whether it’s the kids playing on the swing, or all of us sat out on the deck in the evenings. We just sit there and we watch her, it is just incredible seeing her learn all these moves. It’s been brilliant. She loves to swing and she loves having somewhere to play. There is somewhere for all of us.
“Kids have been out there in the sun playing, we have been out there sunbathing when the weather’s been nice. All the family have been around and nieces and nephews have loved it.”
Ultra Decking decided to work with WellChild’s Helping Hands in 2019. They wanted to help those with complex health needs use their gardens by making them more accessible. WellChild’s Helping Hands have also helped make a mobile ventilator for Lorenna, so she could walk around in a baby walker while staying hooked onto the machine.
UltraDecking sales manager, Luke Jeffrey, is now calling on other companies to support projects such as WellChild’s, especially those in landscaping or building. He said: “The pandemic has opened our eyes a bit more to how much the little things truly do matter. We urge more businesses within our sector to support in any way they can, as even a small amount can make a huge difference.”
“During challenging times we must ensure these projects go ahead and offer families a small sense of normality. It can be easy to focus on your own problems, but there is always someone that is worse off than you.”
