Zoe Davies isn’t a fan of cycling, but this week she and her husband Scott will get on their bikes and travel 310 miles (500 kilometres) to raise money for Torbay Hospital.
“The most I’ve ever cycled is 40 miles along the Bovey Tracey cycle path,” Zoe laughs, “but I wanted to do something to say thank you for the incredible care our son Dempsey received last year when he underwent life-saving brain surgery.”
It will be an emotional journey for the Davies, who will set off from Torbay Hospital at 9am on Wednesday 24 July, aiming to arrive at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children on Sunday 28 July – a year to the day when Dempsey was rushed to the specialist hospital for emergency surgery.
Dempsey, who was five at the time, was being treated for an ear infection, but as the week went on his condition deteriorated.
Zoe recalls: “He woke up at 6am on the Sunday with an earache, and the following day he complained that it was really hurting, and he had a temperature. Our GP prescribed antibiotics for an ear infection and perforated ear drum, but by the Tuesday he had stopped eating and was very sleepy and docile; he wasn’t himself.”
Dempsey’s condition had improved slightly by the Thursday when the family thought the antibiotics had kicked in, but the following day Scott called Zoe to say Dempsey felt sick and had zoned out.
“I told Scott to drive him to hospital and by the time he got there Dempsey was stiff; I knew it was really bad,” Zoe recalls. “The doctors and nurses at Torbay Hospital were incredible and rushed him away to resuscitate him. When I saw Dempsey he had been intubated and had five IV lines in him to help stabilise him. We were told Dempsey was really poorly and would need to go to Bristol Children’s Hospital for an operation.
“I sat with Dempsey in the ambulance and thought I was going to lose my baby. When we arrived, we were told he had a significant swelling and pus on his brain and they needed to operate on him immediately. I said goodbye to him as he was taken to theatre, not sure if I would see him again. It was terrifying, he was in a coma, and everything happened so fast.”
Thankfully, Zoe, Scott and Dempsey were reunited four hours’ later. She said: “It was such a relief. Dempsey woke up as if nothing had happened and asked for some strawberry water. It was the biggest relief of our lives. We were told he had contracted invasive Strep A and the infection ate through the mastoid bone in his ear and went in to his brain, causing him to seizure. The doctors said it was a miracle he had recovered so soon.”
Dempsey stayed in hospital for three weeks, before coming home where he continued close monitoring and antibiotics for a further four weeks. He was given the all-clear last November.
“I’m nervous about how I will feel when we finish our ride; it will be really emotional as it will be a reminder of one of the scariest, most traumatising and terrifying three weeks of our lives,” Zoe says. “We wanted to do something to say thank you to the incredible NHS staff who helped save Dempsey’s life. We thought a sponsored cycle would be fun, but after this I’m never cycling again!”
Zoe will also have the family’s beloved cavapoo, Dilys, strapped to her back for the first day of the journey, and will be joined by Dempsey and his siblings Delilah, Duke and Dolly on the final mile of their ride.
Rachael Bryett, Torbay and South Devon NHS Charity’s fundraising manager, said: “We are so grateful to Zoe and Scott for taking on this incredible challenge to support current and future patients on Louisa Cary ward. The funds they raise will make such a difference to the people we support, helping to fund equipment and comforts for the children to make their time in hospital a little easier and enabling us to provide the very best care possible.”
The couple have smashed their original fundraising target of £1,000 and have raised a staggering £7,600 which will be split between Torbay and South Devon NHS Charity and Bristol Children’s Hospital. “It still doesn’t feel it’s enough,” Zoe says. “It’s priceless to save my son’s life.”
You can donate to Zoe’s Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/DempseyDavies
