As a midfielder for the Sydney Swans, George Hewett is use to thinking on his feet and expecting the unexpected. Lucky then that George has had some practice keeping calm under pressure.
When his partner and mum to be Alice Summers felt cramping in her abdomen at 28 weeks pregnant, the couple thought it was a stomach ache. Son Henry had other plans. He was born the next day at Sydney’s Royal Hospital for Women weighing in at a tiny 1.34kg.
“He didn’t have much meat on him,” said Hewett.
Henry spent nine weeks in the NICU and was cleared by the doctors after they performed scans and procedures on his brain and heart.
George and Alice were thrilled to be able to take Henry home and enjoy sending time with him during the halted season when George usually would have been training or playing for the Swans.
“The break wasn’t a nice break but there’s always positives out of things. The positive for me was having Henry home. It’s felt a lot easier now he’s home, you’re just training and then you’re straight home with him. It made things feel a bit simpler” said George.
The footy is back and life is beginning to return to normal. When the pandemic is over, Alice and George look forward to returning to the hospital to thank all the the doctors and nurses for their incredible work. The couple want to thank NICU staff for caring for their son and so many other sick and premmie babies.
