When Sian went into labour on Boxing Day at just 23 + 4 weeks pregnant, she thought the doctors had it wrong. But within hours, her tiny daughter Matilda, or as she is more commonly called, Tilly, was born, weighing just 560 grams – not even the weight of a loaf of bread.
Tilly’s arrival was a whirlwind of urgent care. She was breathing on her own for the first 15 minutes, but due to her size and fragility, doctors quickly intubated her. For the next three weeks at their local hospital’s NICU, Sian clung to hope. Then Tilly’s tummy began to swell. She hadn’t passed her first stool, and her colour was changing. When her condition worsened, the Newborn and paediatric Emergency Transport Service (NETS) team prepared to transfer her to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
But before they could leave, disaster struck. In the hospital corridor, Tilly self-extubated, her tiny body crashing. With no time to spare, doctors performed CPR in the hallway, giving six rounds of adrenaline before racing her back to NICU. Somehow, she stabilised enough to make the journey to Westmead.
There, she was admitted to the Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, where surgeons confirmed necrotising enterocolitis – a life-threatening bowel condition common in premature babies. At just three weeks old and weighing 492 grams, Tilly underwent surgery. The team removed only a small portion of her bowel – a huge relief – but she faced a long, uncertain recovery.
For 121 days, the Grace Centre became home. Tilly endured oxygen support, feeding challenges, eye injections to save her sight, and another surgery to reconnect her bowel. Sian never left the hospital for more than a few hours, the nurses and doctors becoming like family.
Through it all, philanthropic support was quietly at work. The giraffe beds that kept Tilly warm, the bedside ultrasounds that meant she didn’t need risky transfers, the NETS ambulance that saved her life – all were made possible thanks to generous donors. Donors just like the Humpty Dumpty Foundation.
“Without people donating, she wouldn’t be here,” Sian says. “That generosity didn’t just save my little girl – it saved me.”
On 17 May, just days after Mother’s Day, Sian finally carried Tilly out of hospital. She was still small – just two kilos – but she was going home.
Today, at two years old, Tilly runs, plays, kicks balls, and does gymnastics. She’s meeting her milestones with a sassy, determined personality – a true miracle baby, born from love, loss, and the best care possible.
Sian shares her story for one reason – hope. “I want people to know there can be good outcomes. And for those donating – thank you. You may never meet the children you help, but your kindness changes everything.”
