News: Designer Mike’s book will help his daughter’s special care baby unit
A Senior Graphic Designer at Nottingham College has launched a children’s picture storybook, to raise funds for the hospital who cared for his premature daughter. The Boy Who Lost His Burp tells the story of Charlie, a little boy with a great talent for burping, who suddenly finds himself in a bit of a jam when a very strange thing happens.
In August last year, Mike Condon and his wife Kelly were excitedly planning for the arrival of their first child. However, the pair were left devastated after daughter Willow was born at just 33 weeks and needed immediate assistance from the Special Care Baby Unit at Bassetlaw Hospital.
Babies born so early often need special care and facilities because they have not developed fully in the womb. Willow was one of these babies, and needed help with her breathing, so had to be taken to an incubator immediately. She also had to go through a blood transfusion and countless tests.
We knew Willow was in good hands, but it was a scary time. As new parents, all you want to do is to take your baby home, but we weren’t even able to hold her, which was really difficult.
Once we knew Willow was going to be okay, we then had to spend all of our time in the hospital while medical staff cared for her for another three weeks.
— Mike
Mike used his graphic design skills to create The Boy Who Lost His Burp, to raise funds for this vital neonatal service.
Not all hospitals have a special unit like Bassetlaw, and we wanted to do something to show how grateful we are for all the staff.
They gave us a lot of support and advice so we were more prepared for when we were finally able to take her home.
— Mike
During those first few days, Mike and Kelly were able to stay overnight in a parents’ room while Willow was being cared for.
We never expected to have a premature baby, and I didn’t even know that facility existed before. Not only did they help Willow, but they helped us cope with what we were going through.
I had to go through major surgery while we were in as well, so the support from those staff was really needed.
— Willow’s mum Kelly
Willow is now a happy, healthy one-year-old, and her parents wanted to give something back to the people that helped them so much.
Mike created the colourful, cheeky children’s book as a light-hearted read for parents, carers and their children.
The book is available to buy online, and people can find out more details on Facebook by searching for The Boy Who Lost His Burp. It costs £6 and all profits are going to the Special Care Baby Unit.
Well done Mike!
Published on:
- 17th October 2019 (2:41 PM)
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