Words by Smiley Team
Diagnosed with two complex health conditions at birth, 13-year-old Lizzie Thomas has spent many days and nights in Leeds Children’s Hospital. This year, she decided to thank the NHS workers who’ve cared for her, by raising money for the hospital.
Throughout this month she is completing a series of ten 5k runs for the hospital through the Leeds Parks Challenge. Thanks to her determined efforts, Lizzie has raised over £3,500 via her fundraiser so far, seven times her original target.
Lizzie’s mum Sarah is completing the Leeds Parks Challenge with her daughter and could not be more proud: “Despite the challenges Lizzie still faces, she is determined to raise money and has really impressed me with her conviction to complete the Leeds Parks Challenge, she’s taking it slow and steady but has set herself the goal of running the entire 5k on her final day!”
Fundraising is most certainly not the first challenge Lizzie has had to overcome. Rushed into intensive care just minutes after being born, she stopped breathing and doctors discovered that she had a condition called Choanal Atresia. This meant that her nasal passage was blocked, stopping her oxygen intake.
At just two days old, Lizzie underwent her first operation and spent several weeks in the Neonatal Unit at Leeds General Infirmary. Just when the family thought things couldn’t get any worse, Lizzie was diagnosed with a second condition, haemolytic anaemia causing her red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body, to deplete quicker than they can be made.
Lizzie’s mum Sarah said: “To find out that your new-born baby has complex health conditions was very worrying, Lizzie was only a few weeks old and had already undergone around four operations.”
Today, having successfully overcome these adversities, Lizzie now calls Leeds Children’s Hospital, “her hospital” having spent so much time there over the years, including having her gall bladder removed at seven years old after her anaemia caused agonising gall stones.
Lizzie’s final 5k run will take place on 27th March, her 14th birthday. To boost support for her fundraiser before this final run, share it on social media or donate to help Leeds Children’s Hospital care for more children like her.
There’s still time to join the Leeds Parks Challenge, you can find out more and get involved here.
