INDIVIDUAL AWARD

FINDING out your baby has Down’s syndrome is a shock.

But for three mums the shock was set aside as Rowena Pearce, a nurse at Oxford Children’s Hospital, helped them to understand the implications.

The advanced nurse practitioner for children with disability was at parents’ sides during births, calling in at Southampton Hospital after heart operations, and visiting families at home.

For her help, support and advice she has been shortlisted as one of five finalists for the Hospital Heroes individual awards.

Didcot mum-of three Nina Lawson, was one of three mums who nominated her.

Her first son Jon-Paul, four, was born with Down’s syndrome at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Mrs Lawson, 30, from South Park Avenue, said: “Rowena had only just taken up the job before Jon-Paul was born.

“It was still a shock, I was only 26 and everyone hopes to have a healthy baby, but our main concern was that he had such severe heart problems.“ Jon-Paul had surgery at eight months old to fix holes in his heart.

Mrs Lawson, who also has one-year-old twins Corey and Dylan with husband Andrew, said: “Rowena was just brilliant.

“She would always come to see us in hospital and when he had to have heart surgery in Southampton she drove to Southampton to visit us, which was really comforting during such a tense time.”

Mum-of-three Nicole Marsh had eight-month-old James Marsh at the John Radcliffe Hospital on March 13. “Rowena was the first person to explain to us what this meant and to offer help.

“I can’t tell you what a support this is for parents like me.

“Without it we would feel alone and facing only the medical side of what having Down’s syndrome means to our children.

“Rowena brings us together and we focus on all the positives that our wonderful children bring to our lives every day.”

Wallingford mum-of-three Helen Kingdon, 34, also picked Rowena Pearce as her Hospital Hero.

Her second daughter Seren, three, was also born at the John Radcliffe with Down’s syndrome.

She said: “If you said Rowena, ‘I really need you’, she would be there. She is incredible, and definitely goes above and beyond the call of duty.”

Mrs Pearce, a 53-year-old mum-of-two who lives near Wantage, said she was delighted to have been nominated.

She said: “I felt very humbled because I am sure there is a lot of people who are just as worthy.

“Lots of people who work within the hospital quietly get on with their jobs and do them very well and they don’t get this recognition.”

TEAM AWARD

ALTHOUGH Jenny Kidd lost her dad in the intensive care unit of the John Radcliffe Hospital, the Marcham mum said staff made sure he never lost his dignity.
Bill Burton, 80, from Abingdon, was rushed to hospital with pneumonia and had a series of suspected mini-strokes on August 21.
He was moved to the Intensive Care Unit on Friday, August 23, where he was cared for by the team for the remaining nine days of his life.
Mrs Kidd, 44, said: “The care he received was absolutely amazing. At a time where all you heard about was the lack of care for the elderly in hospitals, that was the furthest from anything we saw. There are few people unlucky enough to be aware of what goes on in ICU, but these people are heroes.
“I am overwhelmed at how amazing they are. The nurses run the machines which keep people alive on 12-hour shifts and they treated him with such dignity. They spoke to him, brushed his hair, and shaved him. And the consultants and the doctors explained everything in an idiot-proof way. They weren’t patronising but weren’t too blunt.”
Mrs Kidd said she travelled up and down the A34 every day to visit him with her mum Pam, Mr Burton’s wife, and all they spoke about was the amazing level of care.
Matt Holdaway, 37, is the matron of the adult ICU at the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospitals.
He has been overseeing the 200 staff at the units for the last 10 years. Mr Holdaway, from Middle Barton, said: “It is fantastic to get that sort of recognition from patients and their families. To be shortlisted is really exciting.”

THE AWARDS
STRONG competition among Oxfordshire’s hospital staff continues as more Hospital Hero finalists are revealed today.
A total of five teams and five individuals have been nominated and picked for the shortlist of Oxford Mail’s Hospital Hero awards.
The award was launched this year for the first time to take the time to thank staff, from the corridor cleaner to the top surgeons.
The fourth and fifth finalists are nurse Rowena Pearce in the individual awards and the John Radcliffe Intensive Care Unit for the team award.
The winners will be announced at a presentation ceremony at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, on November 28.