My Story

I'm running London Landmarks Half Marathon and here is why:

On Monday 21st July 2025, Jude woke up with a cold like symptoms, a snotty nose and mild cough. By 3pm we were concerned so managed to get a GP appointment at 5:30 the same day. The GP said it was likely just an upper respiratory virus and said if it got any worse then take him to a&e. I knew something wasn’t right so we went straight to a&e. Little did we know Jude was in respiratory distress! He was sucking in around his ribs, making grunting noises when he was breathing and was beginning to get really tired. Within 5 minutes of arriving at a&e we were surrounded by nurses, doctors and consultants who all began working on Jude. By 2am on Tuesday morning, the decision was made to intubate Jude and transfer him to St Mary’s intensive care. This is where Cosmic helped us in the most challenging time. It was scary but we were instantly reassured by the amazing staff who work in St Mary’s PICU and the amazing family liaison team at Cosmic. Cosmic providing us with a room in the hospital so that we could try to get some rest, they offered to sort out our parking, they made sure we had eaten and they offered to go and grab us tea and coffee. Jude remained intubated with breathing support for 4 days and after 5 days in PICU he was transferred back to our local hospital. This wasn’t the end though, whilst in PICU the specialist and most incredible team at St Mary’s recommended that Jude was referred for more respiratory testing as the only cause they could find for the bronchiolitis was a common cold virus. When we were finally back home we waited for the referral which never came, Cosmic again came to help. They chased the referral and supported us in making a complaint to our local hospital. They also offered a follow up call 6 weeks after Jude PICU admission where it came to light that I was perhaps struggling more than I thought.  They offered therapy where I was found to have PTSD from the experience. Unfortunately Jude’s health story still hasn’t fully been solved but we are under the best respiratory team and we honestly can not thank everyone at St Mary’s PICU and everyone at Cosmic for everything you have done. You saved our baby boys life 🩵