March 6, 2024

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Ocean’s Charity Swim Held to Raise Money for the Hospital

2 min read
Ocean's Charity Swim Held to Raise Money for the Hospital

After receiving treatment for a rare genetic condition for four months on a ward, a teen swimmer is hoping to give back to the hospital.

Since she was seven years old, Ocean Brown has been swimming, and for the past ten years, she has been a part of the Jersey Long Distance Swimming Club.

After swimming 21 miles in honor of her friend, the late long-distance swimmer Charlie Gravett, and raising £2,500 for Jersey Hospice, she was named a joint winner in the Child of the Year category at the JEP’s Pride of Jersey Awards in 2021.

The 17-year-old is now soliciting donations for the hospital as a way of saying “thank you” for the care she received after being brought to the emergency room in December because she felt unwell.

‘She described the day she went to the hospital as being “so malnourished that I couldn’t carry on any longer.”

‘They took a while to figure out what was wrong with me; they eventually had to call in a professor to diagnose me.’

She was eventually diagnosed with Elhers-Danlos syndrome, a condition that affects the connective tissue of the body.

‘My bones, muscles, and ligaments are weaker as a result of my somewhat stretchy skin,’ Ocean said.

Her condition indicated that she had a paralyzed stomach, which was the main cause for concern.

She was forced to spend four months in the hospital using feeding tubes to maintain her life.

Ocean claimed that the hospital staff’s encouragement helped her get through the ordeal.

‘They were so gentle and kind to me. I got along so well with everyone—nurses included.

‘Since I had been working there for so long and they all knew me, we had a unique bond, she continued.

‘They helped my family through everything. It was wonderful knowing that they would always be there for my mother. Undoubtedly, she was under a lot of stress at the time.’

Ocean’s condition is now being managed after extensive treatment periods. She claimed that because she felt so much better, she was able to get back in the water.

Ocean took a swim for the first time since leaving the hospital at the beginning of the month.

‘Because it had been so long, she said, “I got this buzz that I’d never felt before. It was so good and exhilarating.”

The Long Distance Swimming Club invited Islanders to participate in a fundraising sea swim at Archirondel today between 9.15am and 9.45am as a way of saying thank you to the staff who helped her during her time in the hospital.

In order to support the Corbière Ward of the hospital, where Ocean spent the majority of her stay, a cake sale was also scheduled to be held there.

Reference: jerseyeveningpost.com

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