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Scanner is the
fruit of your labour
By Craig Robertson
WHEN we started our Sick Children’s
Appeal, we were determined we’d make a real difference to the health and treatment of youngsters in Scotland.
 We wanted to make sure the four hospitals involved got the
vital equipment they needed
to continue giving kids the best possible care.
Last week, we were able to do just that — and we feel pretty good about it.
Breathe
In the very first week of our appeal, we told you about Meghan McWilliams from Mayfield in Dalkeith.
The bubbly nine-year-old has recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, a rare disease which causes warts to form in
the throat and windpipe and makes it very difficult to breathe. If they were allowed to grow then Meghan simply wouldn’t be able to breathe at all.
For four years she could barely speak, had to have a tracheotomy tube fitted and became out of breath very easily.
That all changed when she started treatment at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill in Glasgow, where they used a carbon dioxide laser to efficiently remove the warts. The laser allowed Meghan to live a normal life again.
Trouble
Another child who benefited from the wonders of the laser is little Andrew
Harron. He was just eight weeks when he was diagnosed with a condition called
laryngomalacia. It meant his epiglottis wasn’t formed properly and was causing the tot severe trouble.
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 Consultant surgeon Andy Clement and nursing auxiliaries Gary Ballantyne and David Jamieson with
the new laser.
The Harron family — David, Julia and little Andrew.
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“Andrew was failing to thrive and had real problems with his breathing,” says his mum Julia, a Glasgow GP. “We took him into Yorkhill and they diagnosed the
laryngomalacia. It’s pretty rare but the most common cause of this type of problem.
“Andrew was using up so much energy trying to breathe, he wasn’t putting on weight. The effort he had to make to breathe was deforming his chest.
“The staff at Yorkhill were brilliant and he was seen very quickly. The surgeon, Andy Clement, opened Andrew’s epiglottis with the laser and in all he
was only away from us for
45 minutes.
“He’s now seven months and has been in perfect health ever since.”
Catch
There’s a catch though.
The carbon dioxide laser at Yorkhill was 17 years old, its effectiveness was waning and it was in severe danger of packing in altogether.
For children like Meghan and Andrew that represented a potential disaster.
Thankfully, help was at hand in the shape of Sunday Post readers. Because of your generosity, we were able to contribute enough of the appeal fund to allow Yorkhill to purchase a shiny new laser that’s now taken pride of place in the ENT theatre.
“The new one is much fresher and better,” says ENT surgeon Andy Clement.
“It’s more advanced and far more accurate. It’s basically better and safer for patients.
“It’s fantastic to have it and we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed towards it.”
Meghan’s treatment is continuing and she’ll benefit from the greater accuracy of the new laser you helped to buy as well children all across Scotland and beyond.
The four children’s hospitals in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow still have wishlists of items they desperately need.
Together we can put a smile on a few more faces and give the doctors every chance to do what they do best — save lives.
 IF YOU have a special reason for contributing to or raising funds
for our appeal then we’d like to hear from you. It could be that you’d like to thank caring staff for the treatment they’ve provided in your hour of need.
Or perhaps a relative spent time in one of Scotland’s children’s hospitals and the experience has left a lasting impression
on your family’s life.
Whatever the reason, please let us know.
We’d be delighted to share your experiences with our readers.
And, who knows, it may inspire others to follow in your
fundraising footsteps.
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You can e-mail us at:
hospitals@sundaypost.com |
