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Meet some of our patients
Talking to: Avril, mum of Dominic, age 8
Avril first fostered lively little Dominic when he was eight months old. At that stage, he weighed only eight pounds. She recalls: “He was as small as a newborn – I turned up at the hospital with normal baby clothes, but hadn’t realised how tiny he’d be.”
Dominic has complicated medical needs as he was born with foetal alcohol syndrome so has been a regular visitor at Great Ormond Street Hospital all his life. When he was only three years old, he underwent major heart surgery and still has a small leak in his aorta for which he needs regular check ups and will require further surgery. At four years old, surgeons at GOSH used a graft from his thigh to attach his eyelids to his forehead muscle, enabling him to open his eyes. This sophisticated surgery is extremely rare and drastically improved Dominic’s quality of life. He now enjoys going to school and playing with his many friends, in between hospital appointments, and has been permanently adopted into Avril’s family.
As well as caring for Dominic, Avril and her husband Ron have opened their home to dozens of children with disabilities.“ I always feel so honoured that we’ve been entrusted with the children’s care,” she says. “It makes you feel so proud that you can make a difference.”
