Family are fundraising for the hospital which helped their son Harlan

A Gainsborough mum is fundraising for the hospital which nursed her prematurely born son back to health after an emergency operation.
Harlan IsaacsHarlan Isaacs
Harlan Isaacs

Callie Muxlow, aged 20, was taken into hospital with pre-eclampsia in December last year and when it started to affect her kidney she was induced and gave birth to Harlan Isaac on December 27, 2015.

Callie said: “Harlan was a tiny 4 lbs and 13 and a half ozs and perfectly healthy, or so we thought at the time.

“Two days later he began throwing his milk back up. I was extremely concerned and we kept a close eye on him. But later that night he threw up a thick green bile so we took him straight to the neonatal unit.

“The next day he was admitted to Sheffield Children’s Hospital for further tests. They put some dye in his milk and X-Rayed his tummy and instantly they knew the problem was a twisted bowel.”

Harlan was operated on but it wasn’t until two weeks later that his mum and dad, Ash Isaac, 26, were allowed to take their son home.

Callie said: “The nurses were so reassuring and we were always spoken to on a level we understood.

“They were more than happy for me and Ash to do all of his feeds and nappy changes because we wanted to be as involved as much as possible.

“They even rang us personally in the night when Harlan woke for a feed which was brilliant.

“The support they gave, the care they provided for my son was phenomenal and I just cannot show my gratitude enough.

“My baby went through so much and fought it all so well.

“This is why I have decided to do a series of fundraising events to raise money for the Sheffield Children’s Hospital’s Magnolia House,” Callie told the Standard.

Magnolia House is one of 10 ‘Homes from Home’ run by The Sick Children’s Trust, located at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, supporting families with seriously ill children. The ‘Home from Home’ has 11 family bedrooms which all have a direct telephone line to the hospital wards.

“If it wasn’t for these donations I wouldn’t have been able to stay with my tiny, vulnerable, poorly baby and, although I couldn’t do much for him medically, I felt us just being there for him was enough and helped massively.

“This is why it is so important for me to try give something back.”

On Saturday, April 9, a group of around 40 dressed in fancy dress or pyjamas, are meeting at Morrisons in Heapham Road South, Gainsborough, at noon and they will walk to Crooked Billet in Morton.

Callie added: “We are welcoming children and babies as well as I want Harlan to be involved.”

If you would like to make a donation to Callie’s fundraising visit www.justgiving.com/Callie-Muxlow.