ollie's story

- for us, tyˆ Hafan is a total lifeline

Sophie and Sean were just 22 when their little son Ollie was diagnosed with the ultra-rare MOSAIC Syndrome. Here Sophie shares their story and explains how Tyˆ Hafan is, quite literally, a lifeline for the whole family.

“Ollie is our second child, a baby brother for Summer. He had to be resuscitated after he was born but after that he was sent to normal ward.

“He had a sacral dimple on bottom of his spine and when I asked about this, one of the junior doctors said that Ollie had ‘unusual features’ - wide-set eyes and low set ears, but the other doctors dismissed her.

“He had difficulty feeding from the start. Then he failed his hearing test. Another junior doctor noticed that Ollie wasn’t making eye contact and suggested further tests. “All in all, it was four months between his birth and Ollie being admitted to hospital at the Heath in Cardiff. He had a nasal gastric tube put down him for the first time and he fed. Bless him, it was the first time I’d ever seen him content after that feed.

“He was then admitted to hospital and they did loads of checks on him. The doctors told us that they had seen all these features, but individually, not together.” Eventually Ollie was diagnosed with MOSAIC Syndrome. “My husband Sean and I were just 22. We were sent away with a Google printout about the condition after a ten-minute appointment. And there were no recommendations as to where to go for further support.”

It wasn’t until Ollie was 18 months that the family had their first experience of Tyˆ Hafan.

“I had been afraid of what it was going to be like, but it was lovely, not clinical at all. Everyone’s happy and running around trying to give the kids the best time. Ollie was quite tiny at that point, just 18 months old.”

“I got a huge amount of support from the staff at Tyˆ Hafan when my sister, Emma, passed away three years ago from kidney failure,” says Sophie. “She was only 35 and we were very close.” “Ollie first stayed Tyˆ Hafan in September 2020 after he came out of hospital and has been a few times since. It is fantastic. “I stayed with him in Tyˆ Hafan a few times, but I live so close, I don’t want to use facilities if I don’t need to because there are lots of other families out there who need this kind of support too. “But it’s not just the respite stays. If I’m having a really a bad day, I know that someone at Tyˆ Hafan will have the time to just sit and listen to me.

“Me and Sean don’t talk about what we’re going through because we’re both going through it and we don’t dwell on it, we just try to get on with things. So for us, Tyˆ Hafan is absolutely brilliant. “Plus Summer has had counselling. She was so upset when my sister passed away. It was her first experience of death. After that she was waking up in middle of night, crying, running into Ollie’s room to make sure that he was still breathing. “Now Summer has just finished another bout of counselling. She’s been stuck in throughout the pandemic. And the counselling has been so, so good for her because now she’s asking questions and talking more about Ollie. I’ve bought her a Worry Monster – if things are bothering her then she writes things down and puts them in the worry monster. “Now, thanks to the counselling she has had from Tyˆ Hafan, Summer feels able to talk about what’s going on more. And I wanted this – I wanted her to be able to get it all out in the open. It’s ok to cry, it’s ok to be upset. “Already, Ollie has been emergency transferred to Tyˆ Hafan two or three times for end-of-life care. Counselling has definitely helped her to deal with this, and, because for the past year or so due to shielding, she has had to live under the tightest of restrictions. “Summer’s now back at primary school and things are definitely better for her.

“If we didn’t have support from Tyˆ Hafan – we would have no respite at all. The hydrotherapy pool is amazing, plus the socialising with other children and families. The nurses there have known Ollie all his life and they are amazing with him. Plus through the Super Sibs group, Summer gets to speak to children in same position as her and she absolutely loves that. Kelly Jo, in particular, is amazing. During lockdown she was doing video calls once or twice a week, and Summer so looked forward to speaking with her.

“Tyˆ Hafan has been there for us all the way. They have even sent us food parcels at the start of the first lockdown [when we were shielding] and phone us up regularly to check how we are.

“One time, I felt overwhelmed and I went to Tyˆ Hafan. One of the nurses, Adrian had just finished working but it didn’t matter. He just sat with me and listened. That gave me enough to get up and go on.” Kelly Jo is Tyˆ Hafan’s Sibling Support Worker and has spent lots of time with Summer, both online and, more recently, in person. She said: “During lockdown, I was supporting Summer on a weekly basis. Initially Summer and I chatted on video calls, we played games and did activities together like slime making, cooking and even made a lava lamp. As soon as I was able to take Summer out, we went for walks to Barry Island and Porthkerry Park. “One time it decided to pour with rain, so we retreated to the woods for shelter and managed to avoid getting soaked. Summer enjoyed that day as she had the biggest hot chocolate I’ve ever seen, filled to the brim with marshmallows – it was huge!! “When Summer returned to school, I saw her at our virtual Super Sibs sessions. Now we finally get to have face to face sessions, Summer comes to all of them, as well as our Roblox group.”

Find out how to be a lifeline for families like Ollie's over the page.

"Tyˆ Hafan has been there for us all the way"

you can be a lifeline

for families like Ollie’s by including a gift in your will for tyˆ Hafan

Almost a quarter of our caring services are funded by gifts included in peoples' wills each year. We have partnered with the National Free Wills Network to give our supporters the opportunity to write a simple will (or pair of mirror wills) with a local solicitor for free. There's no obligation to include a gift for Tyˆ Hafan in your will when using this service, but we hope that after providing for your loved ones you'll consider remembering Tyˆ Hafan. Please do get in contact to hear more about our free will writing offers. Visit tyhafan.org/be-a-lifeline for more information. Alternatively, call 02920 532 255 or email our Gifts in Wills Advisor Abbie at abbie.barton@tyhafan.org A gift, no matter how big or small, will have a significant impact on our care services. With your help we can continue to be a lifeline, providing vital care and support to all the families that need us, both now and in the future.

To read more family stories, visit: tyhafan.org/ family-stories