Little Leon sends a letter........

 

 

Dear Bruce Keogh and Rodger Boyle,

 

My name is little Leon, Im two years old.  I was born in December 2010.  Mummy and Daddy had waited for me for a long long time.    At three hours old I was diagnosed with a poorly heart, within 24 hours I was tucked up nice and warm in a cot at Leeds General Hospital with Dr Sam scanning my chest with a scannythingamabob and trying to reassure my very frightened Mummy and Daddy that Tetralogy of Fallot, PDA with a really narrow pulmonary artery wasnt going to kill me immediatly and that they would still get to hug and kiss me goodnight.  I was in hospital for three weeks and Dr Thomson let me come home to the cot bed gang on Christmas Eve.     That was Mummy and Daddys best christmas present ever.

 

I deteriorated very quickly in May 2011 and Mr Watterson kindly repaired my heart, it took him 14 hours and for a man of such skill to tell my Mummy and Daddy that it was 'complex' when he got inside my chest made them realise that we were all very lucky to be treated by the staff at Leeds.  By co incidence Mr Watterson also repaired my Grandad Dons heart 20 years ago too.  Since then I go regularly to see my Nursey laydees and the Doctors who scan my chest and listen to my heartbeat, this helps Mummy as she gets very anxious at times that she will loose me.  Dr Thompson put a balloon in my pulmonary artery to try and make it bigger, so I can play with my friends and not feel worn out, he also said it would stop it perishing and 'popping' off.  

 

This is me and my Daddy... oh and Thomas the bear.



I want you to know that what has happened to Leeds over the past week has worried so many Mummys and Daddys, my heart buddies have been very frightened that their surgery has been cancelled or put off for longer.  It was very poor timing that it all blew up over a four day bank holiday with no one around to reasure us all that everything would be ok.   While no one wants children to die, of anything, not just CHD, we need a more robust system that is proporly looked at and not panicking us all.

This is Mummy and Me having fun on the sofa

Please look at my photographs and those of my heart buddies, walk a mile in our Mummy and Daddys shoes, see how it is from our point of view.  We should be saving lives not saving face......

Please dont break my heart.

Little Leon