IN her 24 weeks of life, little Aimee Neill has had a battle on her hands.

The precious daughter of Michelle Neill from Lisbellaw and husband, Steven, she has had constant trips in and out of hospital to contend with, suffering from uncontrollable epilepsy.

But in the middle all the upheaval her family has been blown away by the kindness and generosity of the Fermanagh community who have demonstrated their support with a little help from social media site, Facebook.

Through a link on Michelle’s Facebook page, friends from home have donated over £1,000 to the Paul Ward at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children where Aimee has received the majority of her care.

And speaking to the Impartial Reporter this week, Michelle, now living in White Abbey, says every penny has made a huge difference to ‘Miss Aimee’ and the other children at the neurological ward.

“When Aimee was born we had her home for four weeks when she started taking seizures badly,” Michelle explains, “We were in hospital for four weeks, and then out for a while, and then back in again. That cycle has continued ever since.

“I used to record every seizure, but there are so many there is almost no point.” Aimee’s epilpesy means she now requires 24-hour care and could have a number of ‘focal’ seizures throughout the day and night.

But the most dangerous aspect is the potential for her to choke on her own saliva.

“She was in Antrim Hospital for three weeks the first time she started choking,” Michelle explains, “I was at home with her when it happened. She basically turned purple and then completely white. She wasn’t breathing at all. I’m an adult trained nurse, not a paediatric nurse so I didn’t know what to do. Because she’s my baby, my nursing head went out the window.” Although her time at home has been minimal in her short life so far, her parents have now been fully trained in paediatric CPR, nasal gastric tube feeding, suction and how to administer Aimee’s emergency medication for prolonged seizures which she gets quite often.

“Although Aimee’s epilepsy is described as uncontrollable, it has been controlled to a certain degree with medication,” Michelle explains More than competent in her role as a new mum, Michelle says she is determined to pay tribute to the staff at Paul Ward for their additional help in caring for Aimee.

“The staff are brilliant there,” she says, “After Aimee’s first admission I wanted to do something to thank them for how fantastic they were. I got them a hamper and a card. Two weeks later though, we were back in again.

“I thought to myself, ‘I can’t keep buying them a card every time we are in -- they are going to end up with a scrapbook full of thank you cards from us!’.” Using her own experience on Paul Ward, Michelle has organised for emergency toilet bags to be made up for other parents coming in to the ward.

“When you ring for an ambulance in an emergency you don’t have time to remember everything you need to bring -- the most important things are Aimee’s milk, her medicine and her most recent discharge letter.

“So I thought the emergency toilet bags would be really useful. I wanted to make up around 30 for parents and some children’s ones as well.

“People I hadn’t seen in so long donated through my Facebook page -- people I hardly know.

“Although we are living in White Abbey now, most of my friends on Facebook are from Fermanagh, and I am so grateful to them all for their help. People from outside of Fermanagh donated too. Even a girl I went to school with who now lives in Germany donated, and people from Lancaster where Steven and I lived for a while before moving back here. I now see the power of Facebook!” With her fundraising target more than exceeded, Michelle is now putting together the toiletry bags and has plans to purchase toys, a reclining chair for parents to rest on at the ward and other equipment for Paul Ward and the Children’s Hospice as well as equipment which Aimee personally requires.

“I am organising a team for the Colour Run in Belfast this August and will be setting up a Just Giving fundraising page for people to donate,” the new mummy explains, “Toys R Us in Newtownabbey are bringing their Geoffrey mascot to the ward on the day I hand over all the purchased items.” But what does the future hold for little Aimee?

“The doctors say every child is different, so we just have to wait and see,” says Michelle, “We want to get her a sensory room at home eventually. She means everything to us.” Michelle and some of her friends now intend to run the Belfast 5k to raise money for Aimee and the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice.

Click here for details: http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/our-wee-aimee/204909#sthash.6O1f7Sxe.dpuf