Marilyn Chapman's Blog, page 3

Doctors wanted to switch off our daughter's life support - but somehow she survived. What's next for Charlie Gard?

The doctor's prognosis was grave:We may have to switch off your daughter's life support. 
   
     'No,' I shouted, leaping to my feet as  as the horror of those words hit home. 'You make her sound like a washing machine.'

     Twenty-five-year-old Amy had contracted E.coli 0157 - a deadly form of  food poisoning  - and her vital organs were  shutting down. She'd had an epileptic fit, her lungs were filling with water, her kidneys had failed and her contaminated blood was being regularly replaced.

     Fifteen years later, as the world waits to hear the fate of little Charlie Gard, I can still recall that heart-stopping moment when the doctor seemed to give up on our daughter's life.  I'm not proud of my reaction, for which I later apologised, but it's the reason why I agree with Charlie's anguished parents at a time when  doctors believe their child should be allowed to 'die with dignity.'

     These days it's easier for me to be impartial. While Great Ormond Street Hospital are being fiercely criticised for their role in the baby's future, I find myself thinking that the doctors 'are only doing their job.' But I also believe that all professionals, however experienced in their chosen field, can sometimes be wrong.

     Even if Amy did survive, her father and I were told, she would be 'a vegetable' with no quality of life at all. But then a miracle happened. She regained consciousness, her lungs improved and eventually she was taken off the ventilator.  Unable to walk or talk, however, she had to learn these skills all over again.

     I can't even begin to imagine how ill baby Charlie really is, or what the future holds for a child with  this type of mitochondrial disease. Maybe it would have been better if the child had died soon after birth thereby releasing the parents from the unimaginable dilemma they face now.

      All I know is that the skill of the NHS doctors saved Amy's life. Today she is happily married and holds down a demanding job.  Surely Charlie, and his heartbroken parents, deserve the same chance?



Amy featured in Woman magazine soon after her miraculous recovery.

Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

Doctors wanted to switch off our daughter's life support - but she survived. What's next for Charlie Gard?

My words escaped in a torrent of rage as the doctor's prognosis hit home. 'You want to switch off our daughter's life support? You talk as if she's a washing machine.'

Then aged 25, Amy had contracted E.coli 0157 - a deadly form of  food poisoning  - and her vital organs were  shutting down. She'd had an epileptic fit, her lungs were filling with water, her kidneys had failed and her contaminated blood was being regularly replaced. In an isolated room in the intensive care unit of a nearby city hospital, we were being told there was  no hope.

This week, as the world waits to hear the fate of little Charlie Gard, I can't help remembering that heart-stopping moment fifteen years ago when the doctor appeared to give up on our first-born's life.  It's  the reason why I have to side with Charlie's anguished parents at a time when  doctors, and many ordinary citizens, believe that the child should be allowed to 'die with dignity.'

These days, of course, it's easier for me to be impartial. While Great Ormond Street Hospital are being fiercely criticised for their role in the baby's future, I find myself thinking that the doctors 'are only doing their job.' But I also believe that all professionals, however experienced in their chosen field, can sometimes be wrong.

Even if Amy did survive, her father and I were told, she would be 'a vegetable' with no quality of life at all. But then a miracle happened. She regained consciousness, her lungs improved and eventually she was taken off the ventilator.  Unable to walk or talk, however, she had to learnt these skills all over again.

I can't even begin to imagine how ill baby Charlie really is, or what the future holds for a child with  this type of mitochondrial disease. Maybe it would have been better if the child had died soon after birth thereby releasing the parents from the unimaginable dilemma they face now.

All I know is that, in our case, the skill of the doctors saved Amy's life. Today she is happily married and holds down a demanding job.  Surely Charlie, and his heartbroken parents, deserve the same chance?



Amy featured in Woman magazine soon after her miraculous recovery.

Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

Win a signed copy of Baggy Pants and Bootees

Would you like to win a signed paperback copy of Baggy Pants and Bootees?   Then why not go over to my facebook page  Marilyn Chapman Author , like the page and tell me who you would like the book for: you,  a friend, or maybe a  family member who needs cheering up?

Go on - it could make someone's day!

Baggy Pants and Bootees at  Plackitt and Booth Booksellers, Lytham, Lancashirewhere my debut novel was launched in 2014The book was very lucky to be in such esteemed company....
NB - The competition ends at midnight on Tuesday July 4 - good luck!

Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

The Spirit that Saved a Nation

JUST HOURS after  a young woman lost her home and possessions in London's Grenfell Tower tragedy, she arrived at the emergency help centre to see if someone could find her a new skirt. Why?
Because she needed to get to her job as a checkout assistant in the local supermarket. My first reaction was  disbelief.  Not only is it a great example of  the British 'stiff upper lip,' but also a sign of  immense  courage in the face of  tragedy.

It reminds me of what my Guernsey grandparents used to call the 'War Spirit.' When I was a young child, they told me how an indestructible  spirit helped the islanders endure five long years of German Occupation. And defiant they were - right to the end. Similarly, it seems, the people of London, whatever their colour or creed, have supported each other on a scale not seen for a long time in this country.

After years as a newspaper journalist I wake up these days in fear of the front page news. Perhaps it's time all of us stood together? Let the majority hold hands against the cruel minority and say   We Will Not Be Moved.







Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

Portugese Prime Minister left Holding the Baby

As a former journalist  I relish unusual stories in newspapers and this one in The Times  takes some beating. When the Portugese government granted civil servants and teachers a day off to celebrate the Pope's visit recently, journalist Joao Miguel Taveres was very  unhappy.  Both he and his wife had to work on the day of the visit, so he asked the prime minister to 'babysit' his own four children.






 In an open letter  in Publico newspaper the right-wing columnist said: Taking into consideration the sympathy with which your Excellency granted public officials a day off so they could appreciate the circulation of the Popemobile, I am presented with a problem.  My children attend public schools. I will have to work while my children will not take classes.'

The journalist whose wife,  a doctor,  was on call on that day added: The solution seems to me that while I work, you take care of the kids.'

Shortly afterwards Mr Taveres received a message from the prime minister agreeing to look after his two sons and two daughters, aged between four and thirteen.  The prime minister watched television with the children at  his official residence, the Sao Bento Palace, before giving them lunch and a tour of the palace.

After lunch he had to hand them back to their father as, - you guessed it - he needed to welcome the Pope!


Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

Pop into the palace for lunch before I meet the Pope...

Are you looking for someone to look after the children this weekend? Then I know just the man: Antonio Costa, the prime minister of Portugal.






As a former journalist  I relish unusual stories in newspapers and this one in today's Times  takes some beating. When the Portugese government granted civil servants and teachers a day off to celebrate the Pope's visit recently, journalist Joao Miguel Taveres was very  unhappy.  Both he and his wife had to work on the day of the visit, so he asked the prime minister to 'babysit' his own four children.

 In an open letter  in Publico newspaper the right-wing columnist said: Taking into consideration the sympathy with which your Excellency granted public officials a day off so they could appreciate the circulation of the Popemobile, I am presented with a problem.  My children attend public schools. I will have to work while my children will not take classes.'

The journalist whose wife,  a doctor,  was on call on that day added: The solution seems to me that while I work, you take care of the kids.'

Shortly afterwards Mr Taveres received a message from the prime minister agreeing to look after his two sons and two daughters, aged between four and thirteen.  The prime minister watched television with the children at  his official residence, the Sao Bento Palace, before giving them lunch and a tour of the palace.

After lunch he had to hand them back to their father as, - you guessed it - he needed to welcome the Pope!


Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

HAPPY LIBERATION DAY GUERNSEY - MAY 9 1945

In 1940 my father, Harold Brown, was evacuated from Guernsey Grammar School to Oldham Hulme Grammar School in Lancashire, England, at the age of fourteen. When he arrived back on the island in 1945 he was just nineteen years old and married to my mother. His brother, David, died of meningitis and never came home.



https://youtu.be/efXfZGvaxDc





In memory of my uncle, David Richard BrownThe Guernsey boy who never came home




Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

GOING GREAT GUNS - REMEMBERING THE RESISTANCE

Occupying Love, inspired by the Guernsey Underground News Service, as featured in the Guernsey Press


The Guernsey Resistance movement, established in 1940, has finally been rewarded with a blue plaque this week in a special ceremony on the island. And no-one is more delighted than the families of the original members, two of whom paid with their lives.

The Guernsey Underground News Service, whose acronym GUNS seems almost reckless now, typifies the strength of spirit of islanders who survived five long years of Occupation by the German Army.

The underground newspaper was the brainchild of Charles Machon, who worked as a linotype operator at the old Guernsey Star (later merged with the Guernsey Press.) He believed that gleaning good  news from illegal radios or hand-made  crystal sets would boost the morale those who had become prisoners on their own island. And he was right.

Unveiled by the Bailiff Sir Richard Collas the plaque was placed outside the Star's old offices in the town's Bordage. 'Lots of memories are so traumatic for people that they are never able to tell their stories,' he said.

As a Guernsey girl now living in Britain, I am thrilled to see members of the resistance given a lasting memorial after so many years.  My own father was evacuated from Guernsey to Oldham in 1940 and later worked as a reporter on the Star.

The story of the island's resistance movement was the inspiration for my novel Occupying Love, featured last year in the Guernsey Press and available on e-book  here. The fictional Guernsey Independent News Association (GINA) is not based on real people but a tribute to everyone who lived, and died, through that time.

Liberation Day will be celebrated on the island on May 9, 2017


Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

HAPPY EASTER - NEVER MIND THE SUN (IT EVEN RAINS IN VENICE)

If the sun doesn't shine on you this EASTER  weekend, or you can't get away, pour yourself a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and read a novel. Reading can take you anywhere you want to be, so settle down and enjoy the trip.And remember -  it even rains in Venice!



Nice, France
Guernsey, Channel Islands
Lake Garda, Italy
Lake Garda, Italy
Venice in the rain
Red Arrows in the Guernsey sky
Have tea, will  travel
Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

HAPPY EASTER (IT EVEN RAINS IN VENICE)

If the sun doesn't shine on you this EASTER  weekend, or you can't get away, pour yourself a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and read a novel. Reading can take you anywhere you want to be, so settle down and enjoy the trip.And remember -  it even rains in Venice!



Nice
Guernsey, Channel Islands
Lake Garda, Italy
Lake Garda, Italy
Venice in the rain
Red Arrows in the Guernsey sky
Have tea, will  travel
Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.