Praise for Perth Children’s Hospital as Goomalling farming family shares incredible story of recovery

Born 13 weeks early during the bumper harvest of 2021, Goomalling’s Georgia Leeming is the face of this year’s Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation tax appeal. Now, the two-and-a-half-year-old’s family are sharing their story to help raise awareness of the work the PCHF does every year to purchase life-saving equipment for sick WA kids. Elle and Ian Leeming were expecting their fourth child in 2021 and at 27 weeks pregnant, Elle thought she had plenty of time before she would be going into labour. Cropping and sheep farmers, the Leemings were in the midst of of a record harvest — so saying it was a busy time would be an understatement. “Ian had been driving the truck to deliver grain as well as harvesting so doing long days and late nights,” Elle said. “I felt a bit off that morning but got our three kids on the bus and organised to go see my obstetrician in Perth that day to be sure everything was OK.” Elle made the two-hour trip to Perth and while her obstetrician said things looked OK, she was asked to stay the night just to be safe. By 8pm Elle thought what she was feeling could be contractions and that maybe she was going into labour. “I called Ian who was fully loaded with grain and at the Avon bin waiting to unload, and told him he needed to get down to Perth,” Elle said. “Luckily my mother-in-law was also in Perth that evening for another reason and drove me to the hospital and Ian made it down in time.” Georgia was born that evening at King Edward Memorial Hospital, weighing just over a kilogram. She immediately received intensive care including having a breathing tube inserted and warming therapy. Georgia was at King Edward for two and a half weeks before being moved to PCH. “When Georgia started being tube fed breast milk at King Edward she started getting blockages and it was decided we needed to move her to PCH,” Elle said. “The doctors were testing her and it was then that her body started to deteriorate and she had a code-blue emergency where her lungs flattened. “We were really lucky they had a jet ventilator at PCH.” It was this piece of essential equipment, designed to put oxygen in the lungs when they are too fragile to be inflated, which saved Georgia. “It was that incredible machine which helped Georgia get back to the point where she could breath again,” Elle said. Georgia then had to recover to the point where she could be taken off the jet ventilator so she could have life-saving surgery for a suspected dangerous bowel condition. With Georgia being so frail and under the safe operating weight of at least 2kg, it was too dangerous to move her to an operating theatre so instead the surgery was performed in the ward at PCH. Despite her fragile state, Georgia was a little fighter and overcame a long list of complex medical issues including two holes in her heart and sepsis, a life-threatening bloodstream infection. Elle said it was in these dark moments the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ rang true. “When you go to the Perth Children’s Hospital you see kids that are really struggling and it makes you understand how lucky you are,” she said. “For me it was like going into an underworld I never knew existed. Having had three full-term healthy children before Georgia, I didn’t know how amazing the hospital is; it’s staff and the incredible life-saving technology we are so lucky to have here in WA. “I feel incredibly grateful for everyone’s help during this time and so lucky to be living in WA with the medical facilities we have.” Elle said being able to stay at Ronald McDonald House towards the end of Georgia’s recovery at PCH made tasks such as breastfeeding easier. While Elle and Ian were focused on Georgia’s recovery at the hospital, a lot was happening in Goomalling, where the community had come together to help the family through harvest. It was not just driving the header but all aspects of getting the crop off including delivering the grain to CBH and the community helping with the Leeming’s three older children. “Ian was back and forth as much as he could. We were really lucky as 2021 was a big bumper crop... we were so grateful that so many people helped us with harvest and supported our family during this time,” Elle said. After more than three exhausting and often overwhelming months, Elle and baby Georgia were able to go home. PCHF chief executive Carrick Robinson said every year thousands of WA babies were born prematurely or with complex medical issues that required advanced medical care. “At PCHF, we see firsthand the impact that cutting-edge technology and equipment can have on healthcare outcomes for our State’s sick kids,” Mr Robinson said. “Your generosity this tax time will make a life-changing difference for families like Georgia’s, ensuring that the best care and latest advancements are available when it matters most.” The tax appeal runs until June 30. Funds raised this year will allow the foundation to fund more innovative equipment and technology, like the jet ventilator used to save Georgia during her medical emergency, improving care and long-term outcomes for the State’s most vulnerable children. Visit pchf.org.au/donate.