A Journey To Meet Gabrysia

I had a lovely day today, meeting Gabrysia and her Mum, Angela. It was an important milestone of a day for me too. Gabrysia and Angela live in Leeds and I am in London. Today was the first time I have left William to travel anywhere beyond which I can return quickly if any problems arise. I had a mix of liberation and fear in my tummy as the train pulled further from London but this was soon forgotton when chatting to Angela and taking literally hundreds of photos.

Angela told me all about Gabrysia. She found out her daughter would be born with a severe heart defect during a routine antenatal scan. At the time, the family were told their baby was unlikely to survive a week and, if she did, would need major open heart surgery. Gabrysia is a little fighter and has overcome two open heart operations and heart failure during her 15 months of life. Life is fragile and she has been listed as urgently needing a heart transplant since March 2009. We had lots of fun during the photo shoot and I got so many cracking shots that I really am spoiled for choice for which images to use. At a glance, Gabrysia looks very well but, as you get to know her, you begin to notice the purple tinge to her lips and the grey patches on her face. These become more apparent as she tires. I am looking forward to being told she has had her call.

Angela treated me to a lovely lunch which, after leaving the house at 7.30am, was very much appreciated. We nattered some more and then it was time for me to make my way back to William and the girls. I couldn't resist browsing through the images on the way home and don't think I fully contained my excitement over them. It was a fantastic day but I was relieved to be back home to find William was fine (of course!). I will get used to leaving him. It was a long day and I am tired but couldn't wait to get some pictures up in the gallery on the Gifts of Life website so do pop over and have a look. You can read more about Gabrysia in the stories section.