Guest Post

Last week, we met Nikita, Steven, and brave little Delilah, who raised an incredible £3016 for Children's Theatres and the Royal Eye Infirmary. Here's their story:

 

"Delilah was born on the 23rd of July, 2023. Our hearts were full, and we couldn't love this little girl anymore if we tried. She was born with an eye infection which went away after a few days, but we noticed she never opened her eyes, and when she did, it was just a fraction."

At only 12 days old, Delilah was diagnosed with an extremely rare eye abnormality by paediatric ophthalmologist Dr Eva Gajdosova at the Royal Eye Infirmary.

"A few hours later, the results came back that Delilah has an extremely rare eye abnormality where some of her eye muscles are absent, and the ones that are there are very underdeveloped; the ones that aren't there never will be. This was a huge shock and worry to us; our minds went crazy not knowing if there would be anything they could do to help her as it's so rare."

[Nikita White, Steven Dockrey and Delilah with Dr Eva Gajdosova and Dr Paul Rainsbury at the Royal Eye Infirmary.]

Delilah was only 8 weeks old when she had her first surgery under general anaesthetic to lift her eyelids. "It was the longest 4 hours of mine and Steven's lives."

After surgery, "she was extremely bruised and swollen, but her eyes were open after five days. The bruising and swelling had come down; this was the first time we had been able to see those beautiful big blue eyes properly, and she just sat and smiled at us; it was extremely emotional."

 

"She was almost nine weeks old when we got to see her eyes; most parents get to see their baby's eyes on day one."

 

Unfortunately, Delilah developed an infection in the left eye and had to go back to theatre for the surgeons to reverse the op to allow the eye to heal properly.

"Baby girl did this procedure under local anaesthetic! Whilst that eye was closed, we had to patch the right eye and lift the left lid for a couple of hours a day just so that the brain didn't stop sending signals to the eye and potentially losing site in it. This thankfully worked, and three weeks later, they were able to re-lift the lid. Back down to theatre for surgery number 3 at just 12 weeks two days old under another general anaesthetic. After a couple of days of healing, the bruising and swelling had come down completely. You wouldn't have even thought she had been through any procedures!"

Now, at seven months old, Delilah is doing so well. "She still has further surgery and diagnostic tests, but Eva is doing everything she can to support both ourselves and Delilah every step of the way. We wouldn't be where we are today if it wasn't for Eva, Paul, the team at REI, and the team at Children's Theatres. We just can not thank these people enough for going above and beyond for us and for Delilah."

Nikita and Steven decided they wanted to give back as a thank you and organised a raffle to raise money for these departments.

"We had so many generous donations from local businesses, prizes in total worth over £2,500. In just two weeks in December 2023, we managed to raise over £3,000 to be split equally between both charities. We honestly are so grateful for what they've done so far and continue to do for not only our Delilah but everyone else who steps foot through their doors." 

 

Jamie Lee, Engagement & Fundraising Manager of Plymouth Hospitals Charity, said, "It was so wonderful to meet Delilah, Steven, and Nikita last week. They've raised a remarkable amount of money for two departments dedicated to improving the lives of our young patients. From the charity, I'd like to say a huge thank you to Nikita and Steven and to everyone who donated to the raffle."