Belle's room at Great Ormond Street

Alderley Edge couple, Jeremy and Diane Bygrave, recently presented Great Ormond Street with a cheque for over £21,000, which they have raised during the past year to fund a new suite which the children's hospital desperately needed in their MRI department.

In May 2008 their daughter Belle, then aged 2, had been playing normally all day and attended a children's party but she woke at about midnight, crying hysterically and complaining of a terrible pain in her tummy. Her temperature was so high that her parents immediately took her to hospital.

Results from blood tests showed an extremely high white blood cell count and Belle was transferred to Great Ormond Street children's hospital for further tests. By this time she had become very poorly, was in terrible pain, and barely able to walk. An MRI scan then revealed a huge growth inside Belle's stomach which had attached itself to her insides, it was infected and bleeding internally - causing a great deal of pain and Belle's health was deteriorating rapidly.

They needed to operate, but at the time Belle was too poorly, and the internal bleeding and infection would complicate the operation so Belle's antibiotics were increased and she was kept nil by mouth in case she suddenly became well enough to operate.

Diane told me "We couldn't believe we had started our weekend as a normal family, and we were now in Gt Ormond Street living on a camp bed next to her, not knowing what was going to be thrown at us next.

"To find the growth was a huge shock, as it was so big. We were in the hands of one of the best consultants in the world Dr Keily, who recently separated siamese twins, and he was baffled as to where the growth had come from and how it had grown so big whilst Belle had managed to keep going.

"We obviously knew that a growth came with its sinister side, but until it was taken out, we didn't know if it was cancerous. It was as though our lives had been placed on hold. Work stopped, we were living in London, I was given a bedsit, just down the road, as I was heavily pregnant, and Jeremy slept beside her."

The consultant eventually decided to send Belle home whilst they waited for the growth to be removed. Until Belle was operated on no one could be sure whether the growth was attached to her bladder, ovaries, intestines or bowel. Five weeks later the growth had stopped bleeding and a much thinner Belle was taken down to theatre for the major operation.

After five hours, Diane and Jeremy received the news that the growth had all come out and only been attached to her bowel, so part of Belle's bowel also had to be removed.

Diane said "We were so relieved, as the operation had been a success and she had come through it all OK. We just had a 14 day wait to find out if it was cancerous.

"We bought a new holiday home in Nefyn, near Abersoch to take her for her rehabilitation. Lots of days sitting on the beach helped. Until one morning when she started screaming with pain. She couldn't sit still. We sped her to Bangor hospital, who could see a blockage in her bowel on a scan. This can potentially be fatal, so with a 6 motorbike police escort, we were taken to Alder Hey children's hospital. Here, thankfully she made a quick recovery."

Diane and Jeremy then received the wonderful news that the growth was benign and they could return to normal life but as Diane explained "We felt so indebted to Great Ormond Street for saving Belle's life and the wonderful way they had treated us. We felt compelled to pay them back, and embarked on our fund raising."

Their fundraising campaign kicked off with Jeremy completing the Three Peaks Yacht Race which involved sailing from Barmouth to Canaerfon, running up Snowdon. Then sailing to the Lake District and running up Scarfelt before finally sailing up to Scotland and running up Ben Nevis. Whilst Jeremy's team didn't win, but they were awarded a cup for raising the most money for charity.

Diane then entered a trialthon with four of her very good friends, and this Saturday, she entered the Tatton Triathlon again, but this time to push herself even further she doubled the distances!

Diane is now raising money for 'The friends of Great Ormond Street', the charity which funds the housing for parents, because "This is vital, as I found out when Belle was poorly. Only one parent is allowed to stay with the child overnight, which means the other parent has to leave at bedtime. We were given our own bedsit for one of us to sleep in, all paid for by this charity."

Thanks to their tremendous fundraising efforts, and their extremely generous friends who donated so much money, Diane and Jeremy were able to return to Great Ormond Street recently with their healthy little girl, who has just turned 5, to open the new suite which they have funded so that families who aren't quite so lucky will benefit from all of their efforts and contributions.

The plaque outside the room reads:

Belle's Room

with thanks to Jeremy and Diane Bygrave and friends

whose kind and generous support of

Great Ormond Street Hospital

has made the provision of this room possible

The photos above show Diane, Jeremy and Belle on their recent trip to Great Ormond Street. You can support Diane's in her efforts to raise money for 'The Friends of Great Ormond Street' charity, which supports the families of those children who are seriously ill, by visiting her Just Giving page.