The Daisy Garland Charity came into The Harrison's family life when Hugo at age 5 years had his first prolonged seizure and dropped his oxygen levels dangerously low. The local epilepsy nurse recommended applying to The Daisy Garland Charity for a pulse oximeter to monitor his oxygen levels overnight as he was at risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).
We applied with a letter from Hugo's epilepsy team supporting our application and we were granted a pulse oximeter monitor and it gave the Harrison family the ability to sleep knowing that if Hugo had a seizure in the night they would be alerted and be able to keep Hugo safe during the seizure.
This pulse oximeter brought the Harrison family years of peace of mind that when they closed Hugo's bedroom door at night time they would be alerted to any drop in Hugo's oxygen levels or any change in his heart rate.
The Daisy Garland Charity continue to be in the background for the Harrison family and were there if they even needed them.

Then fast forward a few years later and The Daisy Garland Charity became a massive part of the Harrison family's life.
Faith was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 2 years. Faith was put onto epilepsy medication and was relatively well controlled up until around 2019 when her seizures before more frequent, more violent and more often. Faith had a few years of different medication regime's all with there own punishing side effects and epilepsy taking a toll on Faith's cognitive function, general health and her mental health.
In 2022 Faith was diagnosed with complex refractory epilepsy which means she will always have epilepsy and she will not grow out of it. It also means that Faith's epilepsy is drug resistant so it will never be under control and that she will live with unpredictable seizures daily.
Faith was referred to Manchester Children's Hospital and was started on ketogenic therapy. The Harrison family felt very overwhelmed by the thought of the treatment as it involves complex strict diet restrictions with at least 3 times a day checking blood ketones and sugars. A very strict prescription diet that involves weighing and measuring anything that Faith was to eat or drink.
Manchester Children's Hospital informed The Daisy Garland Charity that Faith was starting on the ketogenic diet and suddenly The Harrison family were not overwhelmed any more. They had The Daisy Garland team in their corner who were a wealth of knowledge, advice, support and a catalogue of little tips and hits to make keto life that little bit easier.
But it did not stop there The Daisy Garland team have continued to support The Harrison family with their epilepsy journey.
They have also provided Faith with a pulse oximeter monitor that keeps Faith safe at night and allows the family to rest knowing that if the worst was to happen they would be alerted and be able to keep Faith safe.
They Daisy Garland Charity have continued to support The Harrison Family from sending Faith and her family little pick me up treats in the post when times have been really tough and difficult. "A little hug through the post".
Message's of love and support during difficult hospital admissions, hospital test's, appointment's, difficulty with educational support, the list goes on.
They also run the green shoots programme. A project the Daisy Garland Charity have set up that allows Faith and other children with epilepsy to enjoy the outdoors with seasonal gardening goodie boxes that contain seeds and gardening treats encouraging outdoor fun for the family with the opportunity to share their success with other children supported by the project.
This is so much more than just getting the children outdoors growing flowers and foods, it's a community of children and their families who are living with epilepsy coming together sharing milestones that can be very difficult to achieve for a child with complex epilepsy and sharing the little wins with each other that means so much.
The Daisy Garland Charity community and The Daisy Garland keto cafe always offer support and advise when needed even at 2 in the morning where the world can be a lonely place if you are watching you child in a seizure or just watching them sleep because your too scared to sleep incase you miss a seizure.
The Daisy Garland Charity supports so many families like The Harrison's who would be lost and scared without their support. Craig Harrison