A Tayside mum has enjoyed an emotionally-charged reunion with the medical staff who saved her life 25 years ago.
Amy-Louise McKenzie weighed just 2lb 11oz when she was born nine weeks prematurely and spent more than two years in hospital being treated for a bowel condition.
The mum of one always dreamed of thanking the staff who helped care for her and said she feels like “all her Christmases have come at once” after finally achieving her aim.
Amy-Louise, from Crosshill, Fife, weighed just 2lb 11oz when she was born nine weeks prematurely and spent more than two years in hospital being treated for a bowel condition.
After she was diagnosed with necrotising enterocolitis, which is an inflammatory condition that affects the bowel, Amy-Louise has continued to receive treatment for the condition throughout her life.
Now aged 25 and a mum herself to her four-year-old son Liam, Amy-Louise and her mum Karen Molyneux visited the neonatal unit for an emotional reunion with staff on Tuesday afternoon.
Senior charge nurse Alison Findlay, senior nurse Alison Wright and consultant paediatrician Dr Margaret Peebles, who was a junior doctor in the neonatal intensive care unit 25 years ago, were just some of the staff reunited with Amy-Louise and her mum during the visit.
Speaking after the meeting, a teary Amy-Louise said: “I feel like all my dreams have come true, and all my Christmas’s have come at once.
“I have wanted to come to the hospital to do this for a long time to thank everyone for saving my life.
“This means so much to me and my mum to be able to meet the nurses and staff all again.
“It is very emotional. I was obviously only a baby but my mum remembers everything about this time and we are so grateful for everything the doctors and nurses did.
“I just wanted to say thank you in person for everything they did for me and for all the wonderful work they do for families in Tayside.”
Amy-Louise’s mum Karen said: “The words thank you will never be enough for everything they have done.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to come and thank them as without them. I wouldn’t have the amazing family I have now.”
Senior charge nurse Alison Findlay added: “Amy contacted us never expecting any one of us to still be working here after all these years.
“She was ecstatic when I spoke to her and told her that I had looked after her and that there were others still working here that did so too.”
In the last year alone, 562 babies were cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit, with 247 premature infants being born.
The unit has 21 cots – one isolation cot, four intensive care cots, four high dependency cots and 12 special care cots. There are also four transitional care beds where mums can stay with their babies prior to being discharged home.
The Courier told last month how Amy hopes to travel to America for life-changing treatment and is fundraising to pay for the trip. Donations can be made here.
