Charlotte’s two-year-old son Oscar has spent a lot of time in and out of hospital since he was born.

To thank the NHS staff who have cared for him since he was a new-born, Oscar is taking part in our Halloween themed Toddle with his big sister Bella, to raise funds for Leeds Children’s Hospital.

Oscar was born at St James’s Hospital on the 30^th September 2019, he had a birth defect called imperforate anus, affecting his normal bowel movements and was transferred to Leeds Children’s Hospital for urgent care.

Oscar spent his first three weeks of life on the neonatal unit, where he had surgery and a stoma fitted. Just three months later Oscar was readmitted to hospital for planned surgery. Following which he had complications which led to him undergoing further tests and operations for which he spent a number of weeks in hospital.

When Oscar was born his big sister Bella was just 15 months old so had to spend a lot of time in hospital with her brother, mummy, and daddy.

For Charlotte, it’s not just the care NHS staff gave to her new baby, but also to her little girl, she says:

“Bella was still so little when Oscar was born, she didn’t understand what was going on. We were worried that when she came to the hospital with us that we wouldn’t be able to give her the attention she needed. But the doctors, nurses and especially the Play Specialists were fantastic, they kept Bella preoccupied with lots of fun activities, like making pancakes on Pancake Day!”

Thanks to staff at Leeds Children’s Hospital, Oscar is living a happy and healthy childhood. He’s looking forward to getting outside and dressing in his best spooky outfit and joining in our 1km walk at Temple Newsam with his sister.

You can donate to Oscar and Bella’s fundraising page here https://leedshospitalscharity.enthuse.com/pf/oscar-wilson

If your little ones would like to join Bella and Oscar at our fundraising walk on the 30^th October, you can register them for free here.