I became a father for the first time as me and my wife, Georgina, welcomed beautiful Ffredi Fôn Evans into the world at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor. However, although it looked to us as though he was initially doing really well, it later became apparent that his bowel was not working as it should be. After two days, Ffredi was transferred to Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool and over the course of eight days he was treated by the incredible surgical and neonatal teams in neonatal ICU.
He was then diagnosed with Hirschsprungs - a rare congenital disease that affects around 200 babies and children a year in the UK (1 in 5,000). For Ffredi and other children with Hirschsprungs disease, their large intestine doesn’t work in the way it should, meaning that the bowel can become blocked and result in a very serious infection. In August of this year, he will have surgery at Alder Hey Hospital to repair the defect in his bowel - and we are certain that he will be in the most fantastic hands possible.
While staying at Alder Hey, we couldn’t be more grateful for the care we have so far received from the incredible teams that work there - from the doctors who took their time to explain every step to us to the nurses who took care of Ffredi and us from day 1 to 8 at every hour of the day, the additional funds that subsidised our meals so we could eat, and the infant feeding team who supported Georgina, among others. I also wanted to thank the Ronald McDonald Houses Charity which provide su.
