MINNIE Moo

Written by Jesse Shaw 

6th December 2023 

I will never forget that day you were born, the opening day of the Premier League 13th August 2017..

At 30 weeks Charlotte had sensed something didn’t feel right early that Sunday morning, I was trying to get a website to stream the football on my laptop later that morning and whilst Charlotte was in  the toilet she called me in and to my shock I saw a white sack protruding from her, ya know..

Obviously for a few moments utter confusion and panic ensued..

"Shit!" 

"What do I do! "

I see beautiful Luna at 13 months old, stood outside the bathroom bewildered and very confused... I remember saying “don’t worry darling its all going to be fine, you can go and play” as I paced around the hallway confused looking for my phone.. 

By the time I returned to Charlotte which seemed like 30 seconds, Charlotte’s lying on her back and Minnie had already graced the dreadful concrete floor in the flat of our bathroom.. Minnie was blue and purple in colour, not breathing properly or making a noise, clearly not normal.. I quickly picked her up, cuddled her and covered her with a towel to try and keep her warm. 

During this whole time I’m shouting down to my phone on speaker, “yes I need an ambulance please” and explaining the situation as much as I can whilst it’s all happening. I remember the umbilical cord was a patchy browny, white and grey colour but everything else was red with blood. I put my mouth over Minnie’s whole purple face pretty much and blew some breaths into her mouth a few times and she instantly changed to a more pinky colour and started to try and cry but was clearly still really struggling to breathe and not a normal colour. 

At this point, Charlotte is lying on her back barely coherent, completely in and out of consciousness... I’m even shaking her and trying to rub her chest thinking she’s dying.. 

An ambulance person finally answered the phone and they asked me to get more towels to keep Minnie warm and to keep breathing breaths into her mouth/nose every few seconds. I try to walk and find some towels and forgot about the umbilical cord so nearly pulled Charlotte’s insides out.. 

I rested Minnie as best I could on Charlotte’s half dead body in the towel and then grabbed as many towels as I could find.. came back to the bathroom floor and continue the process whilst waiting for ambulance... 

I was told the ambulance took 14 minutes to I arrive... I cannot be sure but what I do know is it felt like a seemingly endless wait filled with pure fear.. That I can recall vividly

I don’t remember seeing Luna throughout most of the drama, except for the moment at the beginning where I told her it would be ok… And the moment at the end the paramedics took over.. She’s always been such an angel... I do wonder what she saw though and what she still remembers.. I also don’t recall seeing any of those towels ever again.

We were rushed to St Richards as the treated Minnie for lung / respiratory issues, fortunately a vigilant pediatric cardiologist from Southampton Dr Nicholas Hayes spotted something alarming on her scans—a rare and very serious form of a heart condition called Ebstein's anomaly. 

Minnie was then rushed to Southampton Hospital, where she spent the first 4-6 months in Southampton Hospital in the care of the incredible paediatric cardiologists and nurses at Ocean Ward. Our home became the Ronald McDonald Hospital Hotel, and it was here that I first realized and experienced the importance of charities, for without them, we could never have afforded to stay in Southampton.

Thanks to the unwavering support of my boss Aaron Mears and Danni O’Neill at the time, who understood the gravity of the situation, work took a backseat during this rollercoaster of emotions and they were both so great about it.

Anyway, it is safe to say Minnie's journey began with an unexpected and intense start... And that is just Day one...

To be continued….