Eastbourne father and daughter raise money for important machines to help newborns due to personal link

The 10-mile ride, which took place last year, raised money for Tiny Tickers – a charity that aims to improve the early detection, diagnosis, and care of babies with congenital heart diseases (CHD).

More about their bike ride here

Sebastian, John’s son and Grace’s brother, has a heart condition that was undetected until he was three months old and caused various health issues.

At three months Sebastian succumbed to bronchiolitis, collapsed and had to be blue lighted to hospital. It was only during this time in A&E that his loud heart murmur was detected which led to the diagnosis of a CHD. Since then Sebastian has had three open-heart surgeries. He continues to have a CHD that causes issues and will likely require more surgery.

Now Tiny Tickers has donated 10 special machines called pulse oximeters to East Sussex NHS Healthcare Trust which will help children like Sebastian.

Claire Croft, midwifery preceptorship facilitator and postnatal ward matron, said: “It is such a simple, quick and non-invasive test that has the potential to save a life – we are using them both in hospital and community settings, and it is great that we can use this method of screening on every baby born within our trust.

“The pulse oximeters are a great addition to the care mums and newborn babies already receive, and help us to take detailed observations which provides better, safer care. We are very grateful to Tiny Tickers for their kind donation.”

To this news John said: “We are so glad our fundraising has made a positive impact on all newborn babies in our local area, finding undiagnosed CHD quickly. The test is quick and painless.”

Carly Doswell, project support officer from Tiny Tickers, said: "We are so grateful to the Martin family, and all our other dedicated supporters, who tirelessly raise funds to enable us to place potentially life-saving pulse oximetry machines in hospitals. Tiny Tickers couldn't continue our vital work supporting babies with serious heart conditions without this ongoing support.

“By placing machines in maternity units around the country, Tiny Tickers aims to improve the early detection and treatment of babies with CHDs. We recognise the important role that pulse oximetry testing can have in detecting serious heart conditions soon after birth, which is why we continue to offer these machines to maternity wards across the UK."

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