WHITES DUO CONTINUE SUPPORT FOR CHARITY PARTNERSHIP

WHITES DUO CONTINUE SUPPORT FOR CHARITY PARTNERSHIP

Adam Forshaw named as an ambassador for campaign with Children's Heart Surgery Fund.

Leeds United stars Adam Forshaw and Kalvin Phillips visited the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Leeds General Infirmary on Thursday morning as part of the ongoing relationship with local charity Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF).

Midfielder Forshaw is now an official ambassador on behalf of the Leeds United first-team squad for the campaign that will run throughout the 2018/19 season, as we work to raise vital funds to support the work done at CHSF helping to save the lives of young children born with congenital heart disease.

The Whites duo were introduced to the Lead Clinician to Paediatric Intensive Care during the visit to learn more about some of the equipment that will be purchased with the funds raised by the Charity of the Year campaign, including Super-Life Support Machines and a Dialysis Machine.

The life-support machines give a percentage of the 400 children that undergo open heart surgery every year a better chance of survival during a really difficult recovery, whilst the much-needed Dialysis Machine is a key piece of equipment in saving the lives of youngsters with heart disease.

Yosuke Ideguchi

The two first-team players also visited a number of the young children currently receiving care on the PICU and at the Congenital Heart Unit, handing out special Leeds United gifts, having photos and spending time chatting with their family members.

Adam Forshaw spoke about his new ambassadorial role and said: “When I spoke to the club and they asked me to come along the first time I just said ‘yeah, definitely’ – I recently had a son and for me to be able to come along to these visits and just put a smile on the families faces for half a day, it’s the least I can do.

“Ultimately it’s about helping to raise awareness that will help raise funds for the equipment that’s needed to help save children’s lives so that’s the important thing and it’s just something that really hit home with me and I’m privileged to be involved.”

Dr Tim Haywood, the Clinical Lead for Children’s Critical Care Service in Leeds also spoke to LUTV during the visit and said: “We work really closely with Children’s Heart Surgery Fund which is the charity partner for Leeds United this year and we work with them a lot to deliver care to babies and children born with congenital heart disease from birth right through to adulthood.

“We are really lucky in Intensive Care that CHSF have chosen to support us because a lot of their heart patients that have operations come through us. This equipment that we’ve asked to help fund for is literally life saving and it will also be used for the general population so for us it’s a double benefit in what this campaign is willing to support us with.”

The aim of the year-long campaign is for Leeds United to help leave a lasting legacy that will greatly benefit people throughout Leeds and Yorkshire.

Monies raised will also go towards completely refurbishing the CHSF family unit provision at the local hospital which currently consists of seven bedrooms, a kitchen and lounge area, as well as funding the accommodation they offer to families of patients next door to the hospital, keeping parents and siblings close by.

The final strand of the campaign will see the Whites help to create once-in-a-lifetime memories, such as with the visit today where some of the young heart patients and their families got the chance to meet two of the first-team players, have photos and receive special Leeds United gifts - it’s moments like that which they will hopefully be able to cherish through some of the hardest times they will ever face.

A fundraising page has been created for online donations to be made, for more information please click here. You can also text to donate to the campaign by texting LUFC19 followed by the amount you’d like to donate to 70070.

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