Kyan’s mission to improve hospital wards for children

A mother from Cross in Hand says she is overwhelmed by the response after starting a fundraiser called ‘Kyan’s Kipling Make Over Mission’ to decorate the Hastings hospital ward where her son gets treatment.

In just a two weeks Lia Higgs’ £4,000 target has been smashed and the fund that will transform parts of Kipling Ward.

Lia Higgs says her life was turned upside down literally overnight when her son Kyan, who goes to Cross in Hand School, was diagnosed with Acute Lymbastic Leukaemia when he was just four years old.

She explains: “Our longest stay has been three weeks, mostly me and my son, confined to a small hospital room. When you are stuck in that environment it’s very hard. Now we never know when we’ll be back there – all it takes is a sudden spike in temperature and we will be in hospital from upwards of a day.”

Lia says she wants to make a difference to the environment which is ‘tired’ and just has a couple of wall stickers for decoration.

She said: “The staff working in Kipling Ward are amazing but the NHS is tight on funds and there is no money to improve facilities.”

The plans include ‘wrapping’ the room with characters from films and books. This will be done by Lia’s husband who is a professional sign writer. Other improvements will include a new TV as the current one is broken, a docking station for music, sensory equipment such as a projector and a bubble tube along with a range of toys and educational books for older children.

“Many of the toys are broken or have to be borrowed from the central playroom which can lead to cross contamination. They also go missing sometimes which happened with an X-box recently. The idea is that the toys would be kept in a locked cupboard and parents would be given the key. These items are so important as poorly children need things to distract them. It’s also helpful for the parents as when your child is rushed into hospital you don’t have time to think about what they might need,” Lia explained.

“I want to thank to every single person who has donated. It is totally unbelievable! With the money we have raised not only can we achieve everything we hoped for and decorate Room 7. We will also be able to decorate the other two rooms that are used for oncology children and add some extra special bits to the oncology room at Friston Ward at the DGH in Eastbourne,” Lia said.

Lia runs Acropora Massage Therapy & Beauty from a salon in Heathfield.

Read the full story about Kyan on the fundraising page

Feel free to make a donation or contact Lia via her Facebook page if you have a specific item you would like to donate.