Poprad-Tatry, Slovakia > Nottingham, UK
2,000 miles
‘I don’t know what we’d do or where we would be with our baby if she remained in Slovakia. My wife and I will be forever be grateful and in your debt to the whole team at Lucy Air Ambulance for Children. From the bottom of my heart, we thank you for not turning us down and helping our beautiful daughter to have a future.’
First-time parents, Barbara and Jan, were on holiday in Slovakia when their daughter, Barbora, was born unexpectedly eight weeks early. Barbora was immediately placed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and put on a ventilator to assist her underdeveloped lungs. Further testing revealed that she also had Polycystic Kidney Disease.
Barbora’s kidney function was minimal and at just a few days old they stopped working. Her only option was to be put on haemodialysis – a type of dialysis that carries a major risk for babies and especially preterm babies – and Jan and Barbara were told not to expect Barbora to survive the haemodialysis. This was devastating for Jan and Barbara but it was Barbora’s only option.
Surprising everyone, Barbora fought through and survived the haemodialysis. Her consultants decided that the next best step would be to remove Barbora’s kidneys one at a time. Despite having both kidney’s removed, Barbora faced other complications associated with Polycystic Kidneys Disease. The consultants in Slovakia were unsure about how her condition would develop and how to treat it as they did not have any experience with Polycystic Kidneys Disease in babies because Barbora was the first baby born in Slovakia with this condition. It was crucial that Barbora was flown back to the UK for further treatment and care as soon as possible.
Jan and Barbara started to make arrangements for Barbora to be flown home to the UK for treatment as they knew that there wasn’t much more the consultants in Slovakia could do. The couple started a GoFundMe page to try and raise as much funds as possible to cover the high costs of the air transfer to their local specialist hospital.
Whilst researching their options for travel home, Jan and Barbara came across a charity called Lucy Air Ambulance for Children (Lucy AAC) that flies children to hospitals across the UK. Despite currently being outside of the UK, Lucy AAC contributed towards the costs of Barbora’s transfer and helped arrange all the logistics for her transfer.
In July 2021, Lucy AAC flew Barbora and her family back to the UK. She is now at Nottingham Children’s Hospital where she is receiving specialist treatment and care for Polycystic Kidney Disease. Barbora’s dad, Jan, says:
‘I don’t know what we’d do or where we would be with our baby if she remained in Slovakia. My wife and I will be forever be grateful and in your debt to the whole team at Lucy Air Ambulance for Children. From the bottom of my heart, we thank you for not turning us down and helping our beautiful daughter to have a future.’
Latest News
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