Little Sam Carroll was just 13 days old when his mum Karen brought him to her GP for a routine check-up. But as soon as the GP examined Sam alarm bells began to ring. Immediately, Sam was rushed to Cork University Hospital Children’s Unit. All through that night Karen and her husband Oisin, hoped and prayed that  the vast team of doctors and nurses that were treating Sam would be able to save their baby son’s life. Quickly the medical team began to fear that Sam had contracted Meningitis – the highly infectious disease that can prove fatal if not treated in time. Sam’s meningitis was ‘the worst case scenario’. But there was hope………..

Because Karen was able to get Sam to CUH so quickly, doctors were immediately able to move him to the Infant High Dependency Unit. And thanks to the support of the people of Munster, and the experience and expertise of CUH’s Paediatric teams, there is no better place a critical child could be.

Every year, thousands of critically ill children from all over Munster and beyond, come to CUH for expert and life-saving medical care. That is why we will be building a brand new In-Patient Unit in CUH – so that every child in Munster can get the expert care they deserve, in the best of facilities.

Sam spent over three weeks battling for his life in CUH. But during that time he was never alone. Throughout his ordeal, all the wonderful staff were there for him.

We are delighted to tell you that today, Sam is fully recovered and his parents are looking forward to spoiling him this Christmas. Karen and Oisin want to do as much as they can to help give the team in CUH the best tools to do what they do and are appealing to everyone to make a gift, no matter how small to help support Phase II of a new 80 bed In-patient ward in the Children’s Unit. Donate here: http://cuhcharity.ie/donate/