Cary and John Hammond Walk for Prems Interview

Sunday 26th October 2014
www.walkforprems.org.au

In just four years, Walk for Prems has become Australia's largest event recognising premature babies and their families. Each October children, parents, grandparents, extended families, friends of all ages and backgrounds come together to walk or run for -prems'. It is a celebration of life and an opportunity to raise awareness and funds.

Beginning in Melbourne in 2010, the first Walk for Prems was attended by 1,000 people. It quickly became an annual event due to popular demand. In 2013 the event was held in 7 cities, involved 3,000 participants and raised over $230,000.

Walk for Prems will take place again in 2014 across seven Australian cities (Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Launceston and Perth) Each city will host a 5km Walk and family fun day. The Melbourne Event will also include a 5km and 10km run. Families who are still in hospital or who live in regional areas are catered for with a -Wanderers' option to host their own walk in their community.

Based on growth from previous years, we are excepting more than 4,000 participants nationally and hope to raise $300,000.

Interview with Cary and Jon Hammond

Cary and Jon Hammond have three beautiful children. To look at the family today you would have no idea of the rocky start to life the children had. To the outside world, they are just a regular family.

Baby Evie spent the first 8 days of her life in The Royal Women's Neonatal intensive care unit and a further 45 days in the Special Care Nursery at Frances Perry House. She suffered from a collapsed lung, known as a pneumothorax and subsequent breathing issues. Today Evie is a happy vibrant 6 year old, who has a few issues with her sight and a low immune system as the only remaining issues from her early birth.

Evie, the eldest of the Hammond Children was born on October 25th 2007. She was 10 weeks premature and weighed a tiny 1275 grams (2lb 8oz). Evie was born early due to a condition known as pre-eclampsia which is the most common complication of pregnancy.

When Cary again fell pregnant, this time with twins, she and Jon knew the risk of another preterm delivery would be high. This time the pregnancy lasted for 28 weeks, making the boys 12 weeks premature. Billy and Sonny entered the world on October 9th 2009 and weighed 698g (1lb 5oz) and 1150g (2lb 5oz) respectfully. Initially Sonny was the more critical of the boys, nearly passing away on day four, he went on to spend three weeks on a ventilator. After learning to breathe on his own he became stronger and healthier. Billy, who experienced issues with blood flow in utero, initially did fantastic, despite his small size, however really struggled to get his breathing and feeding under control. He suffered from Chronic Lung Disease and was PEG fed for 3 years and still suffers from failure to thrive.

The twins were in neonatal wards for 99 days, although Billy was discharged from special care only to be admitted to The Royal Children's Hospital the same day for surgery.

For 18 gruelling months Cary and Jon juggled parenting a toddler and newborn at home, and caring for a critically ill newborn in hospital or seeing dozens of specialists as outpatients during the rare times Billy was out of hospital. .

Special occasions and milestones for the first few years as a family have often been spent in hospitals and marred by medical concerns. The boys first birthday was spent in the hospital, Billy having almost lost his life on 4 separate occasions due to a virus just the week before. The family have been through the very worst of times and perhaps this is why they now embrace an almost -normal' life. Billy and Sonny now attend kindergarten and continue to be seen by speech, physio and occupational therapists, as they are significantly smaller than the other children in their class, but hope to attend school next year.

The entire Hammond Family are thrilled to have been selected as the very first Ambassador Family for the Walk for Prems. To shows that premature birth is more than just being born small, and help other families who find themselves suddenly thrust into the bright lights and sterile world of the Neonatal Unit is something they feel very privileged to do.

Question: Why did you decide to become an ambassador for the Walk for Prems?

Cary Hammond: We were asked to become ambassadors for Walk for Prems 2014 by the Life's Little Treasures Foundation. We were already very involved with the foundation and our name was known to staff and volunteers. The Life's Little Treasures Foundation helped us so much when our three children were born so we were more than happy to be able to give back.

I found the morning teas, the online forums and the Facebook page a huge help after I gave birth to my babies and now I enjoy being able to help others in the same way. Because we've had three prem babies (Evie, Sonny and Billy) we have experienced a wide range of problems and issues allowing us to give advice to many people who are now in our situation.


Question: How does it feel to be selected as the very first Ambassador Family for the Walk for Prems?

Cary Hammond: I feel honoured and humbled that we are the very first ambassador family. We are so proud of our children and how strong they've been and we want to spread the word about the Life's Little Treasures Foundation and premmie babies.


Question: Can you tell us how has your family been impacted by premature birth?

Cary Hammond: Evie, the eldest of our three children, was born 10 weeks premature in 2007 due to pre-eclampsia and weighed a tiny 1275 grams (2lb 8oz). After spending the first eight days of her life in The Royal Women's Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Evie spent 45 days in the Special Care Nursery at Frances Perry House.

Evie's younger siblings and twins, Billy and Sonny, were born in 2009 weighing 698g (1lb 5oz) and 1150g (2lb 5oz) respectively. Billy suffered from Chronic Lung Disease while Sonny spent his first three weeks on a ventilator and now suffers from asthma. The twins spent 99 days in Neonatal Intensive Care Units.


Question: How does this still impact your life, every day?

Cary Hammond: All three of our kids are still impacted by their premature birth. We have to monitor the boys breathing at all times and are always making visual observations about their health and movement.

All three are immunosuppressed so what may be a normal cold for a fit and healthy child is not a normal cold for our children.
We still make a lot of visits to the Royal Children's Hospital for appointments and check-ups.


Question: What advice do you have for other families who are currently dealing with the complications associated with premature birth?

Cary Hammond: I would say that you should try to deal with issues as they arise rather than worrying about what might or could happen.

It's also important to know what your child is going through and be aware of what the doctors and nurses are doing. Ask the doctors and nurses questions and if you don't understand, ask them to explain it differently.


Question: How did you both learn to cope with the Neonatal Unit experience?

Cary Hammond: We tried to empower ourselves so we could be there for our children as much as possible. We took everything as it came and – to be honest – just sucked it up and deal with it and be there for the kids. We asked the doctors and nurses lots of questions so we knew exactly what was going on.


Question: What do you hope to achieve from the 2014 Walk for Prems?

Cary Hammond: We hope to raise awareness for the Life's Little Treasures Foundation and for premature babies in general. We would like to raise funds through Walk for Prems so that the Life's Little Treasures Foundation can help more parents of prem babies the way that they helped us.


Question: How can Australians help support the 2014 Walk for Prems?

Cary Hammond: To take part in Walk for Prems people can sign up online at www.walkforprems.org.au. In each city except Melbourne the registration cost is $20 for adults and $10 for children. For the Melbourne event registration is $30 for adults and $10 for children.
Participants are asked to fundraise, either individually or as a team, through their own page on the Walk for Prems website.


Question: What are your hopes for the future surrounding the Walk for Prems?

Cary Hammond: We would love for Walk for Prems to get bigger and bigger every year. The event is already well-known in Melbourne so we hope to increase registrants in the six other cities that Walk for Prems takes place in.


Interview by Brooke Hunter