Benjamin's quilt    (Quilt Open)

Theme details

Pokemon/Other - OK to put in some Mario patterns if there are any legal ones.

Spongebob on the label.

Note for all of the above, must be legal patterns (No Etsy please)

Child Interests

Ben's favourite colour is blue, in particular cyan. Ben loves Pokémon, he collects cards and plushies and loves watching the show and playing Pokémon games on Nintendo. He loves his Nintendo and all of the usual characters from it- Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Bowser etc. He loves music and listening to Skillet, but he loves all of the silly songs that only kids can find in the vastness of the Internet.

Biography

Benjamin's condition was diagnosed prenatally, when I had my 20 weeks scan. It was observed then, that the left pumping chamber of his heart was underdeveloped. When he was born, he was taken straight to the ICU for observation and had his first open heart surgery, while a tiny 5 days old newborn. For all babies born with HLHS, the surgical route is the same. They have to have 3 open heart surgeries in order to re-wire their circulation. Benjamin followed that path and had another open heart surgery at 6 months old and one more at 5 years old.

He tolerated the procedures pretty well, with some minor issues that he overcame. In 2022 however, he suffered with heart failure that at first looked so severe that he might need a heart transplant. His condition improved with medication and at the transplant assessment it was decided that he doesn't need to be put on a transplant waiting list.

Soon after the assessment Benjamin suffered another major problem. He suffered a haemorrhaging stroke and ended up in a coma for 17 days. He woke up from the coma just in time for his 7th birthday. He couldn't move or speak and his sight was severely impaired. He slowly started recovering with intensive physiotherapy. Now 18 months after his stroke he is wheelchair bound and he still cannot use his left arm, but he can take some steps. He is back in school part time as well. We keep on with exercises to improve his condition.

Patterns (0 stitchers needed)

Squares received