Berkhamsted student gives back to charity

A 19-year-old student from Berkhamsted is preparing to run her first half marathon in support of the charity that gave her family a place to stay when she was seriously ill as a baby.

Jemima Cadge will take on the Royal Parks Half Marathon this Sunday 11 October to raise money for The Sick Children’s Trust. It’s almost two decades after her parents, Giles and Helen, stayed at the charity’s Acorn House ‘Home from Home’ in Cambridge while she received specialist treatment over Christmas.

Jemima was just seven days old when she was rushed to hospital on Christmas Eve 2006 before being placed on a ventilator and transferred to intensive care at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. Far from home and facing an uncertain future, her parents were given a room at Acorn House, The Sick Children’s Trust’s ‘Home from Home’ for families with a child being treated at the hospital.

Now, nearly 20 years later, Jemima is giving back to the charity that enabled her family to stay together during one of the most difficult times of their lives. The student, who also plays rugby, said: ‘It will be my first ever half marathon, so it’s definitely a new challenge, but I’m really excited for it. Obviously, I don’t remember any of what happened, but from everything my parents have told me, The Sick Children’s Trust kept my family together during my first Christmas, which is really special.

‘Through one of the most challenging times in my parents’ lives, they were able to stay close to me and have some stability. I’ll always appreciate that and everything the charity did for my family.’

After being taken to Watford General Hospital on Christmas Eve, Jemima’s condition deteriorated rapidly. Born six weeks prematurely, she was still tiny when doctors realised the seriousness of the situation and made the decision to place her on a ventilator.

With no specialist intensive care beds available locally, Jemima was transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, where she spent five days in the paediatric intensive care unit before moving to a general ward. Seven days after arriving in Cambridge, she was well enough to return home with her family on New Year’s Eve.

Helen recalled: ‘When we arrived at Watford, everything happened incredibly quickly. Within minutes, there were doctors and nurses all around Jemima’s bed, and we were told that she needed specialist treatment.

‘Because she was so small, there were very few suitable intensive care beds available, so the hospital had to search around the country. Thankfully, Cambridge had space, but suddenly we found ourselves an hour and a half from home on Christmas Eve, not knowing what was going to happen next.’

A place to stay was arranged at Acorn House, with Giles and Helen, along with Jemima’s older brother Ollie, moving into the charity’s ‘Home from Home’ for seven nights while Jemima recovered.

Helen said: ‘When we first arrived in Cambridge, we’d never heard of The Sick Children’s Trust and had absolutely no idea what to expect. Suddenly, somebody told us not to worry because there would be somewhere for us to stay. We turned up with hardly anything, but everything was there. It genuinely was a home from home.

‘We decided that the best thing for us was to move into Acorn House together and base ourselves there while Jemima was in hospital. We couldn’t take our toddler into intensive care, so we had to take turns being with her, but we were never more than five minutes away.’

The timing of Jemima’s illness, over Christmas, made an already frightening experience even more challenging, but Acorn House gave the family a place where they could be together and support one another.

Helen said: ‘The house had toys and everything else set up for Ollie, so for him it almost felt like a little adventure. Family members were able to come and visit us there as well, even if they couldn’t visit Jemima in hospital.

‘It’s not just somewhere to stay. It’s having all the facilities you need so that you don’t feel like you’re camping in some random place. You can settle in and create some sort of structure around hospital life.’

The family believe that, without Acorn House, they would have faced the prospect of expensive hotel stays miles from the hospital at one of the busiest times of the year.

Helen said: ‘The fact that the hospital could contact us at any time during the night and we were literally five minutes away was invaluable. There was never the worry about the cost either. We couldn’t have imagined there would be accommodation like that so close to where Jemima was being treated.’

Giles added: ‘We were incredibly lucky that Jemima recovered so quickly, but even in that short space of time, Acorn House made a huge impression on us. It’s such an important moment in your life that you never forget it, and now, all these years later, to see Jemima raising money for the charity that helped us is incredibly special.’

To learn more about Jemima’s story or donate to her fundraising page, please visit: www.justgiving.com/page/jemima-cadge-royal-parks-half.

For more information about The Sick Children’s Trust and their ‘Homes from Home’, please visit sickchildrenstrust.org.

Image: Jemima is all set to take on her first half marathon for The Sick Children’s Trust. Credit: The Cadge Family