Charlie's story
Charlie Briggs, aged four, was rushed by ambulance to The Children’s Hospital, Sheffield, after waking up one morning with a badly swollen eye.
Intravenous antibiotics at Charlie’s local hospital had had no effect and he needed to be seen by the specialists in Sheffield.
Dr Penny Broadley, consultant radiologist at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, used the charity-funded, state-of-the-art CT scanner that is especially designed for children.
“With our specialist scanner children don’t need to lie still for a long period of time. Charlie was very good anyway but it makes it much easier for us to get the images we need!” said Dr Broadley.
“We scanned Charlie’s soft tissue and could clearly see a dangerous build up of fluid behind his right eye which was extending into his sinuses.
“We could tell from the scan that Charlie needed an operation to remove the fluid or it may have affected his optic nerve and there was a risk of blindness.”
Registrar Deb Biswas operated that night to drain the fluid and make sure Charlie’s eyesight was safe.
Charlie, from Dronfield, continued to receive intravenous antibiotics for a few more days before being put on normal medication but stayed in the hospital so that the staff could monitor his progress.
It was during this time that Charlie met his Sheffield United heroes when we arranged for them to visit children at the hospital.
Charlie was also on hand to help when a mountain of toys worth £3,000 were delivered to patients from Mercury Taxis and Smyths Toy Shop. Thanks to his operation Charlie was able to look through all the presents to pick out his favourite.
Further scans showed that Charlie would need another operation to remove more fluid, but after Charlie’s second visit to the hospital theatres on 23 December he was finally able to go home and made it just in time to spend Christmas Eve with his brother Jake (18) and sisters Lorna (17) and Evie (3).
“No-one had wanted to switch the Christmas lights on until Charlie came home and he was really excited to do it!” said dad Mark, 42. “We managed to have a fantastic Christmas.”
“If it wasn’t for The Children’s Hospital, Charlie could have lost his sight,” said Charlie’s mum Kerry, 39. “The staff were fantastic and we want to say a great big thank you to them all.”
Rebecca Staden, one of our fundraisers here at the charity, said: "This is just one example of the type of vital equipment we are able to provide for The Children's Hospital. The scanner has helped save Charlie's eyesight and is used in the treatment of lots of different children that need to visit the hospital."
Each year we fund £100,000 of cutting-edge medical equipment thanks to generous donations from the public. Unlike an adult hospital a children's hospital requires many different types and sizes of specialist equipment.
