Evelyn with her sister Olivia and her brother Oscar.
When little Evelyn Law was only eight months old, she suffered cardiac arrest out of the blue at her home in Corby.
Her brain ran out of oxygen and the damage that resulted changed her life.
At a time when their world was turned upside down, parents Claire and Alan turned to Rainbows Hospice for Children and Youth for assistance
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Claire Law
Claire LawNow 38-year-old Claire takes on 13 half marathons to raise money for the children’s hospice that looks after her five-year-old daughter.
She works her way through an incredible challenge of running a half marathon each month that ends with the Great North Run in September.
“Rainbows has helped us a lot and it’s great to be able to give back,” said Claire. “Everything that happened to Evelyn was out of the blue. We didn’t expect anything from it. “
It was a normal day for Claire in 2016 when Evelyn suddenly screamed and suffered cardiac arrest at home. The ambulance was near her home so it only took four minutes to get paramedics on site. They spent 45 minutes getting their heartbeat back.
Evelyn Law from Corby
Evelyn Law from Corby
Claire said, “After three weeks in intensive care, the doctors came to us and talked about taking her off the ventilator. We were told it would be; Rainbows was involved because of his end-of-life options. At the time, we didn’t know about Rainbows, we didn’t know if we wanted her to be involved, and we didn’t want her to be pulled away from what we knew. “
But Evelyn showed what she was made of and continued to breathe without the aid of a ventilator. As part of the family’s transition from hospital to home, they all stayed in rainbows for the weekend, which also coincided with Evelyn’s first birthday.
“We weren’t even sure if Evelyn was going to celebrate her first birthday anytime soon, and the Rainbows team made it so special for her,” said Claire.
“You have given us massive support ever since.”
Although Evelyn can breathe on her own, the cardiac arrest left irreparable brain damage. She has her own ways of moving and communicating, but she cannot walk and speak like her brother and sister. She needs a lot of grooming all day and is also fed straight into her stomach through a tube.
“All of these are why Rainbows is so important to our family,” said Claire, who is also the mother of Olivia, seven, and three-year-old Oscar.
“It’s not just for Evelyn. We do the family fun days and Olivia is part of the sibling support group which makes it great for her to meet others in the same situation. “
In 2020 Olivia completed # Rainbows5K and drove back double the distance in honor of her sister. She raised £ 100 for the charity.
“We love rainbows, it’s a happy place and Evelyn gets spoiled,” said Claire. “We knew Rainbows was special when one of the Rainbows Family Support Nurses came to us, and it was nice to have someone to talk to who knew what we were going through.
“Evelyn is usually left alone so we can go on day trips and other things with the other children, and visit places where it would not be fair to take Evelyn with us. She is very smart and she knows Rainbows is a safe and happy place.
“I hope our story inspires others to maybe sign up for the Great North Run and support Rainbows and families like ours.”
Rainbows opened in 1994 and is the only hospice of its kind in the East Midlands. It was founded by Gail and Harry Moore, whose daughter Laura died of leukemia in 1989. Laura’s favorite thing in the world was a rainbow.
Rainbows only receives around 15 percent of government funding, so public support can provide end-of-life care, symptom management, short breaks and aftercare to hundreds of families in Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire. It can also be there to support parents and siblings through their grief
Here you can register for the Great North Run for Rainbows.