Welwyn Garden City mother donates care packages to parents at Lister

Victoria Mason has spent seven years in and out of Stevenage's Lister Hospital as her son was born with a rare chromosome disorder.  

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The disorder was so rare that the condition doesn't have a name. Elliot Jay Harridge, Victoria’s son, went straight to intensive care when he was born, and was given breathing support through a CPAP machine. Victoria and her seven year old son, Elliot. (Image: Victoria Mason)

While sat in the parents waiting room for Elliot at odd times, Victoria realised that basic amenities such as toothbrushes or sanitry products were not available. 

The mother of three started fundraisers, toy drives and food collections on Elliot's birthday, but since COVID struck, she has had a hard time organising the donations. 

Now, the 31-year-old wanted to put together care packages for the parents' rooms.

She took to Facebook to ask the community for help. Having been inundated with donations, she set out to collect them at various locations across the borough.

Victoria said: “It has worked really well. In the middle of the night when you haven’t got a snack or a toothbrush, you can’t go to the shops, so this works perfectly. Care packages donated to Lister's Bluebell children's ward. (Image: Victoria Mason)

“In my seven years in and out of the hospital, I can’t count the number of times I have gone without dinner or a bar of soap for a shower, so I didn't want other parents experiencing that.” 

Staff at the Bluebell Children’s ward in Lister Hospital were very grateful for the donations brought by Victoria yesterday, on Thursday, December 16. 

Victoria said: “The staff were almost crying with tears when I turned up with a bundle of sanitary towels because they have been giving parents their own sanitary towels to use.