"So thankful and grateful for our wonderful NHS"

My 4 year old son Dexter fractured his femur back at the end of July and we ending up spending over 3 weeks on the lion ward!

I have to say initially this prospect terrified me spending so long in hospital but it wasn't as bad as I first thought and Dexter actually quite enjoyed the whole experience!

Throughout our stay we saw your staff going above and beyond what is expected of them time and time again!

From the moment we first arrived in paediatric a&e we were both made to feel more at ease in a horrible situation.

Dexter was obviously in a lot of pain and quite poorly as he had gone into shock, it still amazes me how quickly your team responded and made him more comfortable!

Within a few hours we were up on the ward and he was in traction.

One of the a&e nurses worked through their break to ensure they were there for Dexter right until he was safely on the ward and I believe that two members of staff from the orthopaedic team weren't even in the hospital the day we were admitted but they came back to ensure that Dexter was put into the correct traction.

They not only took great care of Dexter but of me as well!

I was a bit of a mess for the first few days and they were very reassuring and even provided me with a great shoulder to cry on!

They would check on us daily to make sure everything was going well with his recovery.

Dexter still talks about them both now!

All of the nurses and health care assistants that we encountered on the lion ward were wonderful and made us feel at home, I want to say a special thank you to six nurses in particular!

The best part of being in hospital for Dexter was the play room and play team!

These people are fantastic at what they do, Dexter fell in love with all of them!

I thought it was great that even on the busiest days that would make a special effort to come and collect Dexter and wheel him in his bed down to the play room.

We both appreciated the change of scenery a lot, he was able to do all sorts of arts and crafts and even some baking all from his bed!

The play team are such a valuable part of the ward and they made a huge difference to Dexters outlook on hospitals!

We would like to make a donation in some one to the play team if you could let me know the best way to do this?

Lastly I want to thank the team of orthopaedic doctors who were not only great during our stay in hospital but also in the outpatients clinic.

Ensuring Dexter was sent for an urgent physio referral to help him walk again.

We received the referral within a few days and he had 3 weeks worth of physio which helped get him back up on his feet!

He's now finally started school and is losing the limp!

The biggest thank you again to everybody that helped us in this difficult time, you really do have a wonderful team!