Reception at the Royal Society of Medicine

Our Trustees, Munther Haddad and Caroline Pardy, hosted a reception at the Royal Society of Medicine in June with Lady Frederick Windsor, our Patron, in support of the Beam Campaign. We were delighted the charity’s founder, Martin Brueton, was also able to join us. 

We were honoured to welcome Phoebe and Callum Melly, to the reception. Their son, Bertie, was born prematurely at 24 weeks and five days, weighing just 745g. He has had to have numerous cannulas and several long lines inserted into his veins, through which medication and nutrition can be delivered and blood tests taken. 

Callum movingly shared their experiences of Bertie’s time in hospital. “Having been in hospital with Bertie for just over a year now, we don’t just bear Bertie’s burden when it comes to cannulation, we bear every child’s. Every cry for mummy or daddy, every scream of pain, every anxious breath, we hear them all, day in, day out, and they never get any easier.”

Phoebe and Callum want ultrasound vein finders to be available to every child. Callum said: “Irrespective of whether you’re a parent or a doctor, ultrasound vein finders just make everything less stressful, less painful and less traumatic.”