LGIM Asset Allocation’s Brilliant Balloon Challenge
27 January 2022
Skye was born at the beginning of 2020 and despite a dramatic arrival, she was otherwise healthy. By day two she was home with her older brother and sister. However, at four days old she stopped breathing, went limp and blue.
Her parents managed to resuscitate her and soon she was in A&E. Over the next few days Skye became increasingly lethargic, waking for just a couple of minutes each day and repeatedly falling unconscious.
As her condition continued to deteriorate, she was moved to intensive care at one week old. She was diagnosed with viral meningitis, and with the right support to aid her fight she started to get better.
As the outlook began to look hopeful, further tests revealed the damage the virus had caused to her body. Amongst other things, she was diagnosed with myocarditis – an inflammation of the heart, with a very high mortality rate in infants.
Skye was transferred to a specialist cardiac centre where she was put on medication that eased the burden on her heart to give it an opportunity to recover. She continued to fight hard, eventually staying awake for 30 minutes or more.
In her first three months she visited seven hospitals having numerous tests, she continued to get better and was discharged home. Skye is now turning two, she is happy, healthy, and extremely cheeky. She continues to go back to hospital regularly for check-ups and will be under observation until she is 18.
Writing in their challenge log Emiel van den Heiligenberg and Christopher Teschmacher said: “Skye’s life was saved in crucial moments: the rapid response of the paramedic team, an A&E doctor unwilling to give up on her despite it being hours after the end of his shift, and the specialist care of the hospitals she visited.
“She spent the most time on the Pinckney Ward at St George’s, and it also felt like the ward that would benefit most from donations to help its patients and their families.”
Therefore, when deciding which charity to fundraise for this time around, the LGIM team decided to support Pinckney Ward. They organised their first ‘team day’ since the start of the pandemic and used this to have a bit of fun and take on the Rock-Paper-Scissors Water Balloon challenge, essentially where the ‘loser’ had a water balloon popped over their head, to bring in more donations.
So, on that note, they would love any donations that people can give, you can support their fundraiser on JustGiving.
