Within hours of being born, baby Brandon was rushed to King’s College Hospital for emergency specialist care. His large intestines had become knotted and died in the womb, leaving him desperately unwell. At 24 hours old he had his first major operation. At 72 hours, he had his second.
Expecting major complications, Brandon’s parents were told it could be 11 months until they could take their firstborn home.
“I had a seizure, MRI scans, and my liver started to fail. My mum could not feed me and I could not have formula milk as my bowels could not digest properly” Brandon says.
Brandon was fed through a long line in his leg for 47 days, and for 52 days thereafter was cared for by a team of nutritionists, surgeons and consultants.
Until finally, on 2nd September 2010, 100 days after being admitted to King's, Brandon was well enough to leave NICU and go home.
“Today, I am like any other boy of 10. I eat a lot, play games a lot, and laugh a lot!” says Brandon.
Once a year, Brandon returns to King’s for a check-up with the same consultant who saved him all those years ago – Dr Jonathan Hind, Consultant of Paediatric Hepatology.
"When Brandon was in the neonatal unit the prognosis was that he would likely need intravenous nutrition at home in the long-term", says Dr Hind.
"However, he proved us wrong, thriving and growing into an inspiring young person."
To say thanks to Dr Hind and the paediatric liver team that saved him, Brandon has completed 10,000 laps around his back garden to raise money for our TLC Appeal.
That’s 100 laps for 100 days straight, representing the 100 days he spent in NICU.
Through his fundraising efforts, Brandon has more than tripled his original fundraising target of £500, and Mum Simone could not be prouder.
The TLC Appeal aims to raise £1.5mil to Transform Liver Care for children and young people, helping to ensure they don’t just survive into adulthood, they thrive.