A fundraiser launched to support a St Albans family whose lives were turned upside down has raised more than £17,000 in four days.
St Albans parents Kay and Sam were given the worst news possible towards the end of last year when both of their daughters became hospitalised.
Set up by Karen Snook on January 8, the GoFundMe page has touched the hearts of the St Albans community with more than 900 people donating to support the family who have had to close their local business.
In early December, the family contracted COVID and despite the family’s best efforts their three-month-old daughter Evie began to show symptoms.
On December 11, Evie was hospitalised at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge in what the family described as the “most horrific and tortuous days of our lives”.
Little did the family know but the worst was yet to come when their 11-year-old daughter Khloe was taken to A&E after her eye swelled shut.
Speaking on the GoFundMe page, Kay wrote: “A CT scan showed that the sinus infection had entered the cavity around her brain and she was in severe danger. She was blue lighted to Addenbrookes where I was waiting for her.
“What began as a plan for an emergency 2-3 hour operation turned into an agonising 8 hours in theatre….with world class surgeons from Neurology, ENT, Ophthalmology and Paediatric all working on her. We have been repeatedly told that she is lucky to be here.”
Since the operation, both girls continue to have hospital treatment with baby Evelyn still suffering from seizures and has developed diabetes insipidus.
Thanking the community for their support Kay said she was absolutely blown away and was in a “never ending flow of grateful tears.”
She said: “This community is just absolutely incredible. I don’t have adequate words to express what you’ve done for my family.
“Evelyn has spent three of her four months of life in hospital…and this is Khloe’s first ever time in hospital. As a self-employed family, the financial toll has been such an insurmountable burden that has added untold stress to an already traumatic situation.
“Because of you…we can now afford the £200 a week worth of diesel we’ve had to pay to go between both girls. We can grab a quick lunch between hospital appointments without questioning whether our hunger is more important than our overdraft.”
You can donate to the GoFundMe page, here.
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