Team Lleyton

 My twin brothers Lleyton & Connor we’re born in 2005 @ 28 weeks old. I was 9 years old, the eldest child. When mum went into labour Kiara, Dennis & I were dropped off to a relatives house while dad and mum went to the hospital and everyone was in a panic but I didn’t really understand why, I was only 9 after all. I remember the first time going to the hospital a few days after they were born, we weren’t aloud to touch them, or hold them, and we didn’t understand why. They were both so tiny and fragile and both so sick. They were in the PICU at Nepean hospital for months. Lleyton had a heart condition that needed urgent surgery at 5 days old, the doctors then realised he was blind and had to have emergency eye surgery to correct it. He then contracted an infection called NEC - necrotizing enterocolitis. (NEC) is a devastating disease that affects mostly the intestine of premature infants. The wall of the intestine is invaded by bacteria, which causes an infection and inflammation that can ultimately destroy the wall of the bowel (intestine). bowel wall destruction can lead to perforation of the intestine and spillage of faeces into the infant’s abdomen, which can result in an overwhelming infection and death.Most infants who develop NEC recover fully and do not have further feeding problems. In rare cases after surgery the baby can be left with little to no functional bowel left and is in extreme dangers of malnutrition as they cannot absorb any nutritional food or liquid. So with this going on with Lleyton he becomes unstable and is in a critical condition and airlifted by Careflight from Nepean to Royal Randwick. So now my mum has Me - 9 years old, Kiara - 7 years old, Dennis - 4 years old and two premature critically ill babies one in Nepean hospital and one in Randwick. Can you imagine the toll it took on her and dad ?? mum ended up taking us out of normal school and sending us to school at the hospital as it was easier for her and meant she could spend more time with the boys. This meant I had to grow up really fast and not really live much of my childhood. Everyday and every school holiday was spent at a hospital, but we never complained. Connor was in a stable condition and we were able to start holding him and mum was able to feed him, but Lleyton needed her more and doctors were telling mum everyday he wasn’t going to make it through the night and she’d sit there all night with him and hold his hand and he’d make it another night, and another night. And 12 years later after a lifetime full of hospital admissions, procedures, surgery’s, sepsis, sickness. He is on a machine 16 hours a day to keep him alive, but which is also killing him slowly. He’s almost died on us so many times I can’t count, but he always seems to bounce back. So you can imagine why we want to donate and give back to the hospital for all they have done for Lleyton in 13 years! Please help us help this great cause!