Little Esmé rings the bell to return home It’s been a fight made harder by the restrictions imposed by the Covid pandemic, but little Esmé is finally home with her family in South Molton after ‘ringing the bell’ at Bristol Children’s Hospital (pictured right). “We have been shown so much love and support, not only by the local community but also by complete strangers. We’ve been totally blown away with everyone’s kindness and generosity, we honestly cannot thank them all enough for what they’ve done for our family,” mum Claire Culshaw told Molton Monthly. “Esmé has a very long and uncertain journey ahead of her, but for now we are just thankful to have her home where we are enjoying every minute we can with her.” Little Esmé hasn’t had the best start in life, she was born with congenital heart disease, chronic lung disease, transient leukaemia and Down’s syndrome. She was on oxygen 24 hours a day for the first 8 months, and was in complete heart failure so she needed to have major open heart surgery at just 5 months old. This has led her to have a pacemaker fitted and can only be fed by a nasal tube. Currently just 22 months old she celebrates her 2nd birthday on June 13th. After all that, last September Esmé was diagnosed with AML, an aggressive form of childhood leukaemia that required 6 months of intense chemotherapy, but due to Covid only one parent at a time could be at the hospital. “Being apart for so long really broke our hearts and made this horrendous journey from North Devon to Bristol even more difficult,” added Claire. Esmé finally rang the ‘end of treatment bell’ on March 10th, 186 days after her diagnosis. Claire and partner James Foden say they’re overjoyed to have her home with their four other children - and paid tribute to the dedicated hospital staff for their “fantastic care” throughout Esmé’s treatments. A fundraising page set up for the family by Ellie Stacey from Westward Ho!, who had seen Esmé’s story on social media has raised more than £3,600 so far. uk.gofundme.com/f/raising-money-foresme-and-her-family
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