James’ story

This week is National Storytelling week- and this year the theme is ‘reimagine your world’.

16-year-old James was an inpatient at the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for 13 months after what they originally thought was a bad case of the flu turned out to be something far worse – a life threatening strain of meningitis.

Though James was kept alive by some of the equipment you helped fund, his prognosis was poor. Parents Alun and Janice were told that, in the unlikely case he did survive, James would likely be paraplegic and possibly unable to communicate.

James did make it through those first critical weeks, but the road to recovery was long. Over the following months, James had to re-learn everything – from breathing to moving independently. During the months of rehabilitation on Island ward, some teachers and friends from James’ s school came in to present him with the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award that he had earned the previous year.

This is where James’ dad, Alun had the idea to reimagine the DofE award in a way that was accessible to James while he was in hospital.

Alun said: “The presentation of the bronze DofE certificate was a lovely event, but it begged the question, ‘Why couldn’t James pursue a Silver DofE award?’ Well, the expedition didn’t seem possible, given James couldn’t leave the hospital, but the other three components of DofE got everyone thinking. Surely his daily physio sessions could count as his physical component. And why not learn something for the skills component as part of the regular teaching he received from the hospital tuition service? Then there was the need to volunteer. Maybe the Noah’s Ark Charity could help?

“As ever, the Noah’s Ark team jumped at the chance to make a positive difference to a young person’s life and helped James with the volunteering component by recruiting him to help with their Christmas appeal. Then Sarah, James’ hospital teacher , liaised with DofE Wales and confirmed it was possible to gain a certificate for the components completed. Sarah then worked with James for months as he wrote a children’s book, using the story of Gwendolyn the Giraffe to challenge ideas of what it is to be ‘normal’.”

Sarah said: “James is amazing, I am in total admiration of his dedication to write Gwendolyn’s story and give something back to the staff and hospital who helped him. It was a privilege to spend time with James and support him as he wrote the beautiful story of Gwendolyn. Even when he was diagnosed with Covid and was quite poorly, he was so determined to finish the book.”

The intense physio rehabilitation was more than enough hours of effort for James to earn the physical element of the certificate too. Natalie Gragasin, of the physio team, reflected on her time working with James, “As a physio team we are all so proud of James and the effort he put into all of his physio sessions to achieve this amazing award. His physical abilities improved so much through hard work and determination that he was able to celebrate his discharge home from hospital by walking around the room to high 5 and thank all the members of the hospital team. Well done James!”

Thankfully, James exceeded every expectation and after 13 months of gruelling rehabilitation he got to go home. James is still progressing with the Noah’s Ark community-based teams even after a year of being home.

This National Storytelling Week we welcomed James back to the children’s hospital to celebrate the imminent publishing of Goodness Gracious Gwendolyn. The hospital team also very proudly presented James with his silver DofE certificate – a true testament to James’ hard work and tenacity during the most challenging of times;

We’re so proud of your determination and hard work James. We can’t wait to see Goodness Gracious Gwendolyn on shelves soon!