Those of you who follow our incredible journey here at Child’s i will no doubt remember our first major success story: Joey.
Joey was abandoned in a public taxi park when he was just four weeks old. Before we set up our Baby Abandonment Project, Joey would doubtless have spent his life in an institution. Instead, after just six weeks with us in Malaika, Desire and George, a wonderful Ugandan couple, adopted him. After his terrible start, he was finally cherished by a loving family and had a wonderful future ahead of him.
Then disaster struck. On Monday night, we found out that Joey is suffering from critical stenosis of his pulmonary artery – and it was only a matter of time before he would suffer cardiac failure. It seems he is already a true miracle baby – we discovered that since his birth, Joey’s heart has been relying solely on the temporary structures that are necessary for babies in the womb. These should have closed up within days of his birth, but they have somehow remained open, and are currently the only things keeping him alive.
We launched an appeal on Just Giving, hoping we could go some way to raising the £10,000 we needed to send Joey for life-saving care. Then another miracle happened – you raised the entire amount in 38 hours.
Seeing the donations flooding in from around the world and reading all of your beautiful messages of support have kept Joey’s family going. Joey is now in one of the best medical centres in Africa thanks entirely to the kindness and love of the following people:
Sarah Clarke, Kirsty Hinchcliff, John Rhodes, Paul Evans, Liz Hugen-Tobler, Delmi Thomas, Katx, Iain Coyle, Matthew Knight, Kirsty Stephenson, Kaeli Denison, Hattie, Perle Laouenan-Catchpole, Mark Phillips, Claire Ratinon, Hannah Hilbery, Sandra Crowley, Steve Bridger, Steve Perry, Lisa Martinson, Sarah Simpson, Sarah Burkeman, Helen Osborne, Ian Johnson, Katie Corcoran, Katy Morris, Andrew Garcia, Rosie Johnson, Georges Ratinon, Eleanor Robins, Kristy Robinson, Mary Blackwell, Bec Nielsen, The Griffiths Family, The Marlowes, Lindsay Williams, Jodie Taylor, Joey Haasbroek, Susan Gaymer, Carla Lawrence, Anu Gupta, Flo, Karen Dixon, Jessica Browning, Jennie Penhallow, Catherine Skakle, Lianne Pegrum, Gloria Charles, Kathryn Hurford, Joanna Relf, Nick Hall, Sophie, Geraldine Roul, Jonathan, Linda Utting, Rae Langford, Michele Marsland, Tamsin Simmonds, Sally O’Donoghue, Cathy Meacock, Lisa Howells, Emily Lawson, Marie Harding, Caroline and Kristen, Leanne Ford, Clare Aitken, Donna Dimitriou, Shivani Gupta, Tamsin Gale, Oliver Le Sueur, New Born Adventure, Mark Wallis, Fiona Harris, Anita Frayling, Oliver Bridge, Jenny Paine, Jerome Mallon, Anna Ozemoya, Jane Shaw, David Holland, Douglas Joy, Claire Livingstone, Oliver Wright, Caroline Knott, Lucy Buck, Zofia Hennelly, Jo’anne McAlindon, Helen Fish, Frances Plummer, Lauren Havard, Chole Avery, Penny Brashaw, Lisa C, Megan Arnold, Will Jobling, Anne Catliff, Andrew Crisell, Simon Frank, Sarah Collins, Alexis Price, Lucy Pullinger, Bernadette Jiwa, Melinda Mutton, Chloe Samwell-Smith, Tina Nielsen, Laura Francis, Georgina Irvine Robertson, Dom Waugh, Barbara Seymour, Suzy Silver, Michelle Lawrence, Richard Thomson, Stephanie Sanchez de Muniain, GemaTech, Bryony Flint, Yasmine Richardson, Amanda Preskett, Pete Stephens, Sally Braithwaite, Lizzie O’Donohoe, Suzette Haas, Ann Sharp, Rebecca Garnett, Nicole Sloman, Sangeet Bhullar, Donna Brown, Louise Scrivens, Estelle McCartney, Kate & Aidan Kong, Peter Landers, Rachel Liddle, Rob Davies, Samantha Barber, Natalie Hart, Stone King Sewell Katherine Armstrong, Sally Radford, Belle, Hannah Davies, Sarah Murphy, Marcos Gaser, Gabriela Henriksson, Aline Reed, Melissa Morgia, Alexandra Davies, Laura Parkes, Hannah Britz, Anne Scott, Adrian Marshall Williams, Rahul Deodhar, Wilfred & Edmund, Annette Diziol, Fraser Simpson, Kimberley MacKenzie, Arnolda Hunter, Niki & Graeme Simpson, Imogen Tonder, Cathryn McNaughton, Peter Mallett, Victoria Thompson-Hill, Miranda Webster, Domo Wilkinson, Emma Morgan, Sarah Boobyer & James Byrne, Vicky Bull, Laura Phipps, Katy Swan, Jenny Evans, Meenum & Alpesh Shah, Stephanie Howarth, Sara Stephens, Sharon Hall, Belinda Widgery, Annis Bailey, Catherine Ball, Georgina Godfray, James Whitby, Claire O’Dowd, Ali, Pete and Annette Barlow, Sally McFadden, Viki Kolar, Charly White, Hayley & Rhys, JC, Charlotte Gallagher, Nina Clement, Julia Barlow, Christo and Katty Brashaw, Rachel Matthews, Emily Taylor, Greg Double, Stuart Ashley, Katy Muncer, Roena Gooch, Mary Driscoll, Donna Airey, Harriet Marshall, Jennifer Crompton, Verity Page, Sarah, Becky & Daniel, Liz & Callum, Julia Langford, Sophie Tait, Katy O’Brien, Nick Pointon, Sarah Hessing, Laura Wood, Jane O’Brien, Emily O’Brien, Nish Afsar, Mary Wbn, Sylvia Prince, Michael & Liz Hurford, Jay Morris, Jas Chopra, Chad Rogers, Arti, Paul Stott, Dinah Salako, Andrew Doran and family, Ros Coward, Ann Sammon, Selina Weller, Daniel Hart, Shardee Hoff, Emily Selby, Niamh Byrne, Shanly Meronek, Anna-Lisse & Joe Dickinson, Ian Wilson, Nick Mallett, Yvonne Cook, Hazel Buck, Jo Farrelly, David Davies, Phil Taylor, Stacey Parish & Andy Currey, Dervla McParland, Lisa Dixon, Mark Carter, Susan Anderson, Sophie Butler, Sarah Wild, Richard Semple, Jonathan Gill, Nick McCabe, Sandra Mbabazi, Tom Blakeson, Deepti Patel, King’s Church Manchester, Lara Gordon, Joanna Gilfoy, Alex Hodgetts, Hazel Bullen, Shona Egerton, Charlotte Glover, David Rolfe, Tracy Evans, Marina Evans, Annalisa Jones, Daniel Ruhweza and Kelly Ferguson.
We are also eternally grateful to Lynda Bleazard at the Walter Sisulu Paediatric Cardiac Centre for Africa in Johannesburg for paying the £4000 outstanding balance on the operation and thanks to supporters around the world – Paul Choudhury, Chris Parsons, Ravi Pandit, Jenette Davies and Andreas Tsakistos at Children’s HeartLink for their time and expertise in helping us to find the best option for baby Joey.
Joey’s operation is scheduled for Monday and we’ll keep you posted on his progress. After all, it’s you who’ve made it all possible.
Thank you xxx
Help find families for all of our children
If you would like to donate regularly to Child’s i Foundation to ensure other children like Joey grow up in a loving family, there is any easy way to do it (in the UK) thanks to our supporters at Open Fundraising. You can give via your mobile phone for just £3 per month.
