Archie’s story

Meet nine-month-old Archie, a bright, happy little boy who has already overcome more than most of us do in a lifetime.

Archie and his twin brother Alfie were due in August 2025, but their story took an unexpected turn when they arrived far too soon in April. Mum, Tasha, experienced a bleed at 18 weeks, followed by another shortly after. At 23 weeks, her waters broke early, and just a week later, right on the cusp of viability, Archie and Alfie were born surrounded by 12 NICU nurses.

When Tasha and her partner, Jonathan, saw their babies again, they were surrounded by tubes and machines. Though both received around-the-clock, one-to-one specialist care, baby Alfie was too small and unwell to survive and heartbreakingly died at just a week old. Archie faced an incredibly uncertain future. Very soon after birth he developed NEC (necrotising enterocolitis) – a serious condition that affects premature babies, where part of the bowel becomes inflamed and can start to die.

Archie also caught sepsis several times and then at 31 weeks, he developed CMV (cytomegalovirus), a viral infection that can be especially dangerous for premature babies. The virus attacked his liver, kidneys and bowel, and not long after, the NEC returned. Time and time again, Tasha and Jonathan were told to prepare themselves for the worst.

For many weeks, the new parents lived in constant fear that they would lose their other son too.

Archie desperately needed further investigation to determine the damage to his bowel and to assess what the treatment options were. As the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital is the only place in Wales where neonatal babies can come for specialist surgery, Archie needed to move to the connecting NICU in Cardiff. Still only what would have been 35 weeks into his mum’s pregnancy, and still critically unwell, a very fragile Archie was transported to Cardiff by ambulance for the next stage of his journey.

After a week-long course of steroids, antibiotics, and blood and platelet transfusions, Archie was finally considered stable enough to be taken to theatre. During the operation, surgeons discovered that his bowel had perforated so it was packed while the team carefully made a plan. Two days later, Archie returned to theatre, where a stoma was created to allow his bowel to heal.

“He was so much better afterwards,” Tasha said. “Even in himself, he was so much happier.”

Ten weeks later, in September, Archie had the stoma reversed. After graduating from NICU, he spent two weeks on PCCU before moving to Owl Ward to continue his recovery – a step closer to going home to his big sister, Ayda.

Throughout their time at Noah’s Ark, Archie’s parents have been supported by senior ward counsellor, Shareefa, whose role is funded thanks to people like you through our Here for You Appeal.

Tasha said: “Shareefa has been really good to us. It’s so nice to talk to someone who isn’t family so you can be honest about how you feel without feeling like you need to be strong.”

Archie spent his first Christmas as an inpatient at Noah’s Ark, away from home and separated from Ayda.

Tasha continues: “Ayda has had an awful year. We’ve all been apart and she’s been living with my parents for eight months. She’s only four and she needs her mum and dad. Christmas was different and not at all what we’d expected it would be but we all wore matching pyjamas and opened our presents together on Christmas Day. She loves her little brother so much.”

Today, Archie weighs 18 pounds and is full of energy. He loves his toys and being read to and is always smiling.

Tasha said: “He’s been through so much but he’s so cheeky. He really has kept me going.”

Thanks to you, the Noah’s Ark Charity is able to fund equipment that helps deliver lifesaving care to babies like Archie. Your support funded the specialist theatre suites where Archie had the surgery that transformed his outlook and continues to help fund the emotional support services provided to families during the most frightening moments of their lives.