Josef's Story

Royal Manchester and Booth Hall Children’s Hospitals will be relocated in 2009 to a brand new state-of-the-art children’s hospital in central Manchester. The New Children’s Hospital Appeal, launched in May 2006 will help ensure the new hospital, which will be the biggest children’s hospital in the country providing specialist services to the region’s poorliest children, has equipment and facilities that are second to none. The appeal will focus on two main areas:

Why we need your support...

Josef*Josef (Joe) from Burnley was just five and a half months old when he first came into the care of Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (Pendlebury). His story demonstrates why the New Children’s Hospital Appeal is needed.

Joe’s Mum Lynda had noticed that Joe was refusing feeds and not growing. Following an overnight stay at Burnley General Hospital, Joe was diagnosed with a serious heart condition and was found to be so poorly that he required specialist care.

He was transferred immediately to Pendlebury, the specialist children’s hospital serving Manchester and the North West and admitted straight into the High Dependency Unit. Pendlebury sees over 135,000 patient visits each year across a wide range of specialties, including Cardiac Care.

X-rays and scans showed that Joe had Severe Coarchation of the Aorta, a condition that causes tight narrowing of the main artery and would require surgery to correct. He was also suffering from an enlarged heart, hypertension and septicaemia and was too poorly for surgery to be carried out. Joe was given medication to fight infections and treat septicaemia and required occasional sedation at times of stress.

Following surgery (at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool) Joe returned to Pendlebury and began treatment for hypertension and hypoglycaemic episodes.

Joe is now five years old and remains under the care of Pendlebury where he attends for check ups and scans to confirm that his arteries are clear and the hypertension has not returned. His care will transfer to the new children’s hospital when it opens in 2009.

*All details of Joe’s condition and treatments are as described by Joe’s parents.

"We have no doubt that Pendlebury saved Joe’s life and we are very grateful. Everyone there has been fantastic and always done their best to ensure that Joe receives the best care with the best equipment possible. That’s why we choose to support the hospital and are supporting the appeal by sharing Joe’s story. Having spent so much time at Pendlebury we understand the need for the new children’s hospital and very much look forward to the new facilities and surroundings that it will provide."


Kevin and Lynda, Joe’s parents