Parents who lost their baby boy after he fought for his life for eight days are now raising money for the Swansea hospital ward that helped care for him. Thomas Jack Keeble, known as Tommy, was born nine weeks prematurely in October with a lung condition that sadly made him poorly. His proud parents Kath and Tim are now raising money for Singleton Hospital's NICU ward that helped care for their son.
Tommy, an IVF baby, was born on October 22 and transferred to Singleton Hospital in Swansea from Prince Charles Hospital in Bridgend just a few hours after he was born. He sadly passed away on October 30, despite Kath and Tim saying that the staff at the NICU had done "everything in their power" to help Tommy.
The couple, from Pontypridd, had lost IVF twins last year at around eight weeks into the pregnancy, and said that Tommy was "definitely a wanted little boy". The couple found out, at 20 weeks, that Tommy had a right foot talipes (also known as a club foot) and were told that he had a problem with his heart, which rectified itself later on.
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"Then everything was ok and at 27 weeks, my waters broke," Kath said. "I was admitted to Prince Charles first and then transferred to Singleton." The couple knew that Tommy would be small when he was born and that he would need support with his breathing, as he was born nine weeks early.
On the Friday night that Tommy was born, it transpired that Kath and Tommy had an infection. Tommy was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, a serious condition that causes high blood pressure in the blood vessels that supply the lungs. "He couldn't breathe on his own," Kath said. "To my understanding, the hypertension meant that the pressure in the lungs was too high and they wouldn't move - they were just fixed open - which meant he couldn't get air into his lungs."
Because of this, Kath said, Tommy's heart and blood pressure were working overtime. Tommy was put on a ventilator with 100% oxygen with a nitrate machine to help him. "A few hours after birth we were told they were taking it minute by minute basically and they'd done everything that they could to save him, but he couldn't get air into his lungs," Kath, 31, said.
Kath and Tim were given the option to transfer Tommy to Swansea, with Tim, 52, in the front of the ambulance. As Kath had had an emergency Caesarean, she was unable to travel with them. "We decided to take the chance. They thought he wasn't going to survive the journey to Swansea, but we decided to take the chance and give him a chance," Kath said.
"I can honestly say, as a mum, [Singleton Hospital's NICU ward] did absolutely everything. They had about 11 or 12 drugs on a syringe going into him, they had a ventilator, they were doing his normal care as well - what a baby would normally need in the NICU," Kath said. She added that the staff also tried a blood pressure medication that they'd had specially brought in for Tommy.
"They did try everything. He had so much medication for his heart, his blood pressure, his lungs," she said. "They just did so much for him. Every time something would happen and he would crash and it looked like that was the end, Tommy would get himself back or the people there would get him back to normal. They sort of said to us, 'Tommy's fighting so we'll keep going,' which we were grateful for."
Tragically, Tommy had a bleed on his lungs after a few had occurred earlier in the week and he passed away on October 30. "That sort of wiped him out completely then, everything he'd built in the last couple of days. He was tired after that and we knew that was the end coming. Even in that moment, the staff were really careful with us," Kath said.
"The care for us, as well as for Tommy, I can't fault it. It was amazing. The people there are amazing. We were given a room because we were an hour and 20 minutes away from Singleton, so we were given a room on the same floor as him all week. We literally didn't leave his bedside."
To thank the staff for the care they provided for Tommy and themselves, Kath and Tim have set up a fundraiser in recognition of their hard work. While they were initially hoping to raise £300 for the ward, they have now raised over £1,500. "They gave us time with our baby, so we're really grateful for that. They didn't give up on him. They used everything," Kath said.
"We didn't come across one [member of staff] that we didn't think had cared. We had consultants ringing in the night to see how he was doing." She added that staff had worked overtime when they found out Tommy was to be transferred to the hospital in the early hours of the morning, staying on until the afternoon after having completed a night shift to make sure he was ok.
"They would make sure that Tommy was looked after until the next nurse came in and they would stay afterwards. Some nights, you'd walk past a nurse at about 9pm and think, 'You were supposed to go home two hours ago.' It's just our way of saying thank you in Tommy's name and, I suppose, allowing his name to be heard as well," Kath said.
"It's been very difficult. We've wanted to start a family for a long time and Tommy was our last embryo we had left. He was so wanted. He fought really hard," Kath said. "Being in that NICU is hard, and maybe the money can help families adjust."
She continued: "This fundraiser has given me some kind of comfort, knowing [Tommy's] name is being spoken and his name is out there. It's in his memory and I want his legacy to be that he was a fighter. He definitely did things his own way." You can donate to the fundraiser here.
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