London > Leeds
200 miles
After a four hour car journey from Leeds to London, Katie, Tom and their son Max had finally reached their friend’s house for a break before their new baby arrived.
Soon after they arrived, Katie, at 31 weeks pregnant, started to experience bleeding and severe pains. Katie and Tom rushed to Lewisham Hospital where Alfie had to be delivered immediately by emergency caesarean section – over two months earlier than expected. Born at 31 weeks, Alfie needed ongoing specialist medical care in hospital. Katie and Tom now faced a prolonged stay in Lewisham hospital – over 200 miles from home.
Max, Alfie’s two-year-old older brother, was staying with Katie and Tom’s friends whilst they all awaited news of the new baby. Confused and worried about why his mum and dad had disappeared, Max was picked up by his grandma who drove down from Leeds to London to take him back home, but without his mum and dad. This separation was really hard on the whole family. Katie recalls:
“We were so grateful my mum could come down and take Max home. We spoke to Max every day whilst we were in London and he kept asking ‘when will you be home mummy?’ It was really hard to hear him so upset because we couldn’t give Max the answers he needed. We didn’t know how long we would be away from him.”
Alfie faced a long stay in hospital, so it was vital that he was transferred to a hospital closer to home where he could continue to receive neonatal care. Alfie was too fragile to travel the 200-mile journey home by road ambulance, so his medical team at Lewisham Hospital contacted Lucy Air Ambulance for Children (Lucy AAC) about the possibility of transferring him by aeroplane. Within 24 hours, Lucy AAC confirmed that they would be able to fly Alfie to a hospital closer to home.
Being a nervous flyer herself, Katie was worried about transferring Alfie by aeroplane so the Lucy AAC Team met with her at the hospital to talk through what she should expect on transfer day and settled all of Katie’s worries. With the arrangements finalised, Katie finally felt like things would be ok. She says:
“We were relieved to hear Lucy AAC could fly Alfie home. Everything was so uncertain up to that point – we didn’t know how long Alfie would need to stay in London, we didn’t know how to get him home and were worried about Max who missed having his mummy and daddy around.”
Lucy Air Ambulance for Children flew Alfie and Katie from Lewisham Hospital in London to St James University Hospital in Leeds. Alfie travelled in a flight-ready incubator that kept him safe and cosy during the flight. The transfer went flawlessly and Alfie was soon back in Leeds with his family. Katie says:
“Now that Alfie is at a hospital closer to home, our new life as a family of four can start. Tom can go back to work and we can look after both Alfie and Max. I know there is still a long journey ahead of us before we are able to take Alfie home but moving him to a hospital closer to home is a big milestone for us. We are so thankful to Lucy AAC for helping us overcome the big hurdle of getting him home.”
Since Alfie’s transfer, the Howard family have continued to fundraise for Lucy AAC and support our charity in anyway they can. From rugby club events to helping us print our annual Christmas cards and being all around incredible ambassadors for our charity, we cannot thank them enough for their continued support!
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Over the next few weeks and months, you will see Lucy Air Ambulance for Children’s brand change to celebrate an incredibly special little girl, Emilia Schoennagel, whom the world sadly lost unexpectedly in September 2022. … Read More
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‘Take the leap for Lucy! Join us on Tue 18th July at Hinton-in-the-Hedges Airfield in Northamptonshire and experience the thrill of jumping 10,000ft at 120mph by taking part in a tandem skydive for Lucy AAC. … Read More
