The money will help those requiring critical care.
A “life-saving” patient monitoring device will be purchased to help support young people requiring intensive care thanks to a £10,000 boost to the Leicester Children’s Hospital Appeal by a Loughborough-based family firm.
British manufacturer Charles Bentley & Son successfully raised and donated £10,000 to support Leicester Hospitals Charity’s £7.5 million fundraising appeal to create a state-of-the art children’s hospital for the East Midlands.
Managing Director Charles Bentley and Finance Director Sadie Pollard were on hand to present a cheque for £10,000 to Louise Jones, Head of Philanthropy for Leicester Hospitals Charity in September.
Charles said: “We are delighted to support such a deserving appeal. We were determined to give something back to the community and it is tremendous to know that our money will go towards helping children and young people across the East Midlands.
“We want to thank everyone who has helped us reach such a fantastic total. Now more than ever, it is particularly important for this fantastic appeal to continue to receive donations in order to help realise the dream of a children’s hospital for Leicester.”
The money will pay for a state-of-the art monitor that provides a comprehensive bedside patient monitoring system. It will be used to help care for those requiring critical care.
Louise Jones added: “We are so grateful to Charles Bentley & Son for this very generous donation that will provide a state-of-the-art bedside monitor for our critically ill young patients.
“All patients admitted to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit will have one of these bedside monitors attached to them; they provide constant monitoring of heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and temperature plus many more functions.
“They have alarms that alert staff if there are any changes and also allow us to check for trends in a patient’s condition over time. This piece of equipment really does help to save lives.”
Assiya Parekhi-Rawat’s son Yaya was born with complex congenital heart conditions. He spent the first five weeks of his life receiving care at Leicester Royal Infirmary and the Glenfield Hospital followed by weekly, fortnightly, monthly and bi-monthly visits until he sadly died earlier this year in May.
She said: “One in 100 babies are born with some form of congenital heart condition but Yaya’s conditions were extremely complex, it is likely he was the only person on the planet with his conditions and we could not have asked for any more from the Leicester hospitals other than to look after him the way they did. He was expected to live just a couple of months but he reached three years.
“It’s one of the scariest moments of your life, putting the care of your child in someone else’s hands, but they make it so easy. They are always more than welcoming and understanding. They ask and listen to your opinions.
“In March, because of Covid-19, we had to go to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, which just added to the stress, meeting a different team, organising the transport and the fact that there is no one to compare Yaya’s conditions to.
“I constantly wonder would it have been easier if the Leicester Children’s Hospital had been standing at that point. For the parents of children receiving care in Leicester there could be nothing better for them and the wider community. After all, children are the next generation and they deserve the best.”
The Children’s Hospital Appeal is well on the way to reaching its target to create a state-of-the-art children’s hospital for the whole of the East Midlands but needs the support of the local business community to raise a further £2.2m by the end of March.
