PUMPKIN PARENT PACKS ARE A LIFELINE WHEN CHILDREN ARE IN HOSPITAL

Sara George has donated several of the packs to James Cook Hospital.

When Sara George’s one-year-old girl Lydia suffered a seizure and was rushed to hospital in Sheffield two hours away from home in Whitby, all Sara had were the clothes on her back, her phone and her bank card.

With no charger, no wash bag and no change of clothes for four full days, she did what any Mum would do and stayed by her daughter’s bedside, with nurses bringing in their phone chargers for her to enable her to keep in contact with her loved ones.

Finally, she left the little girl in the capable hands of hospital staff while she went to buy some essentials.

“I was away for three hours and all I could think about was getting back to the hospital,” Sara said.

“I just wanted to be with her.”

Sadly, Lydia passed away on June 4 2021, six days after her admission, causing Sara unimaginable grief. She was just four weeks away from her second birthday when she died.

“It was horrific,” Sara said.

“It took me until November of 2021 to decide what I wanted to do.

“I needed a focus to help me through the grief, but I didn’t know what.

“I came up with bags of toiletries at first, but it didn’t seem right.”

Sara developed the idea of a bag of useful and comforting items that she would have appreciated during her time in hospital with Lydia.

“Eventually, I came up with the Pumpkin Parent Packs – because Lydia was my little pumpkin princess,” said Sara, whose daughter had striking red hair.

The packs now include a variety of items such as a multicharger cable and a plug, hairbrush, deodorant and other toiletries, sanitary products, a toothbrush, a little book to read to the child, sweets and a fidget toy.

They also contain a crocheted pumpkin, which a group of WI ladies kindly make for her.

“I’ve been distributing them for well over a year now and it’s gone from strength to strength,” Sara said.

“I ask for donations and collect things together and Lydia’s bedroom has become the Pumpkin Parent Pack room.

“I can go in there and fill a bag or 10 bags with what I need.”

Sara’s aim is to get Pumpkin Packs in all hospitals.

“A lady who received one contacted me and said it was like a hug in a bag!” Sara said.

Speaking of the comfort she finds in being able to help other parents whose children are seriously ill in hospital, Sara says: “It’s keeping me going talking about her and other people talking about her.

“It’s helping others and I’m helping myself by helping others.”