A mum from Newton Aycliffe took on a charity skydive to raise funds for The Sick Children’s Trust, the charity that supported her with a place to stay when her son was seriously ill in hospital.
Abbi Penn jumped out of a plane at 15,000ft in a tandem skydive to raise £710 for The Sick Children’s Trust. She wanted to thank the charity for providing her with a place to stay close to her son Ethan’s hospital bedside when he was seriously ill.
When he was just a few days old, Ethan had an episode where he suddenly went rigid and stopped breathing. After being rushed to Darlington Hospital by ambulance, staff were able to stabilise him before he was sedated and taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVI), in Newcastle, for specialist care.
He was admitted to the intensive care unit where it was discovered that Ethan’s dangerously low blood sugar levels had caused the episode. He was ventilated and spent three days in intensive care, with the hospital staff gradually increasing his sugar levels. Ethan was then diagnosed with congenital hyperinsulinism, a rare condition where the body cannot regulate its insulin levels correctly. Ethan was given medication to help control this and, after ten days in hospital, the family were able to return home.
During Ethan’s time at the RVI, Abbi and her husband David could always be by his side thanks to the support of Crawford House. A ‘Home from Home’ run by The Sick Children’s Trust, Crawford House is located just a two minute walk from the children’s ward, saving the family an hour and a half’s round trip from their home in Newton Aycliffe. To thank the charity for that support, Abbi took on a skydive to raise much-needed funds. Abbi said:
“From when Ethan stopped breathing to when he was admitted at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, it was just a blur. Everything felt like it happened so fast. Without The Sick Children’s Trust and Crawford House I don’t know what we would have done. David and I would have had to travel every day to be with Ethan, but Crawford House kept us together until Ethan was moved to the ward, when I was able to stay with him at the hospital.
“Crawford House gave us a place where we could go to get a break from the hospital and a good night’s rest, while still being close enough to the hospital that we could get back to Ethan at a moment’s notice if something happened. We were regularly told by the nurses to make sure we were looking after ourselves and Crawford House allowed us to do that.
“Since coming home Ethan has been doing really well and no longer needs medication to control his insulin. He’s a happy, loving little boy who turns four this November. I hadn’t done a skydive before, but I have done a zip wire and I love roller coasters so when we read about the challenge I signed up straight away. The Sick Children’s Trust is so important to families, while their children are seriously ill, that I wanted raise money so they can be there for another family like mine.”
This year The Sick Children’s Trust is celebrating its 40th anniversary and since 1982 it has supported over 73,000 families, like Abbi’s, with a free place to stay close to their seriously ill child’s hospital bedside. In celebration of this milestone the charity encouraged 40 brave supporters to take on a skydive and fundraise for the charity. Community Fundraising Officer, Charlotte Coldrey, said:
“We can’t thank Abbi enough for being one of our 40 incredibly brave skydivers and for raising such a fantastic amount to support our ‘Homes from Home’.
“As a charity we rely on the generosity of our supporters and fundraisers, like Abbi, to make sure we can continue to be there supporting more families. While we do not charge families to stay in any of our ten ‘Homes from Home’, it does cost the charity £40 to support a family for one night.”
More information about Abbi’s skydive challenge can be found on her Just Giving page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Abbi-Penn
For further information about The Sick Children’s Trust, please visit sickchildrenstrust.org