Poppy's Story

This is the journey of Poppy Rose, told by her mum, Amy.

Poppy was born on 25.11.2025 after an emergency c-section. Amy only saw her for 20 seconds before she was whisked away. Poppy was missing part of her esophagus and had a blockage in her tummy. The family was told they'd need to go to Newcastle for the TOF operation, and Amy would have to wait to recover from surgery before an ambulance brought her to Poppy's side.

Poppy came through that operation showing just what grit and determination she had. But she kept struggling to breathe, and at 7 weeks old was moved to intensive care. Eventually it was decided she'd need a tracheostomy. Amy and her husband Mikey then started their 'trakki training' dry circuit, wet circuit, oxygen, suctioning, NG feeding, while Mikey, a self-employed builder, hadn't worked in months and the family's savings were disappearing.

That's when Amy met Shannon from Louie's. Shannon came to her bedside, and her positivity shone through. Louie's bought the family cots with gaps for the oxygen tubing, granted them £150 a month, and later helped with their daughter Hermione's nursery and school uniform costs. Amy says they couldn't have done it without them, they may well have had to sell their home.

Poppy is now off oxygen, no longer NG fed, and thriving with her trakki. The family remain extremely grateful to Louie's for their continued support.