New Born Baby Presley's Photo Shoot

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Its always really special to be the first to photograph a newborn baby.  Baby Presley here was just 14 days old when we took these pictures and her mum and dad were absolute stars throughout the whole shoot with a constant hand in rocking her between pictures, feeding burping etc.

As is often the case young Presley was a little camera shy and it was over an hour before we got the first image.  This is not unusual and is why i tell people booking me to photograph their newborn baby to allow between three and four hours.  

Its the case in this area that everyone (and i mean everyone) loves their football and especially the New Orleans Saints, so we had a little fun dressing her up in Saints colours and giving her a football helmet to hold.

If you watch the video below you can see some more image.  You can also download the video from i-tunes by clicking this link, you can then add it to your i-phone or video i-pod and watch it when you want to.

I love these shoots but PLEASE if you are wanting me to photograph a new born be aware, these types of photographs can only be taken in the very first days of babys life (the first two weeks).  Don't miss a once in a lifetime opportunity through poor organisation, drop me an e-mail if you need any more info.

Maegan & Franks Wedding, la Maison Creole, New Orleans, Louisiana

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Sometimes I forget how lucky I am and how much I love to take photographs and as a result I've had some pretty incredible opportunities.  I'm lucky enough to have travelled the world and photographed in some incredible locations.





Last weekend was one of those incredible wedding days.  Frank and Meagan had chosen to marry at the fantastic wedding venue "La Maison Creole" in New Orleans and I was honoured to be asked to capture their day.

New Orleans is famous for many things but probably top of the list are its infamous Mardi Gras parties.  

Maegan and Frank's whole wedding theme was "Mardi Gras" based and incorporated the three mardi gras colours of gold purple and green which realy helped set of the photographs.

I also encountered a new tradition i'd never seen at a wedding before.  It was based around the cake (check out Frank and Maegans incredible cake in the slide show above).   The base of the cake has strings attached and the single ladies each take one.  On the command they all pull and at the end of each string is a small pendant that signifies various things, I love discovering new ideas and traditions and this wedding was packed full of them.

There are so many happy highlights from the day but one of the most touching parts was when Maegans grandfather sang to her and her new husband, a very touching and heartfelt moment in time, not a dry eye in the house.


You can watch a short selection of their images in the slideshow above.  You can also download this slide show via i-tunes by clicking this link.  You can then add it to your i-phone / i-pod and have it with you wherever you go.

Business talk at Central High School, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

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OK confession time.  I haven't added anything to the blog for about a month and that's really bad.  However in my defence I had a lot of work to get finished before I flew out to Louisiana to photograph Maegan and Franks wedding in New Orleans last Saturday (pics to follow soon).  I've been busy since I landed a couple of weeks ago and have another six weeks work intermingled with fun before I have to return to the UK, It's times like this I realise I truly do have the best job in the world. But I fully intend on adding more stuff on here over the next few weeks.

Today I did something totally new.   I had the honour of being asked to talk about my business and the way I work to various high school classes at the Central High School near Baton Rouge.  This was a real treat and an honour for me.  It's not unusual for me to be asked to talk to groups before but previously these have been businessman or other photographers so to talk to students at the start of the professional lives was a real treat and I hope they took away some ideas they can use in a positive way in their own chosen professions..

Not all (in fact very few) of the students had much of an interest in photography as a career choice so I aimed the majority of my talk to be general business ideas and centred the whole talks about two things.  Being remarkable and the advantages it can bring and finally the ways of achieving excellence in the eyes of clients.

I always find when I teach I learn a few things myself,  today they included, the English accent in America is a great advantage, the TV show Glee isn't a totally accurate view of real life in an American high school and teenagers throughout the world are pretty much the same, with the same worries, concerns and thoughts.


All in all a fascinating day and I must say a huge thank you to Miss Phenald and all her classes  today for listening to my talk, and their interesting and often searching in-depth questions. 

Harrison's Barmitzvah Party at Stock Brook Country Club in Billericay, Essex

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Harrison and friends celebrate his Barmitzvah at Stock Brook Country Club

This Sunday I was honoured to be asked to photograph Harrison's Barmitzvah party at the Stock Brook country club near Billericay in Essex.  I knew it was going to be a great party when I heard, the band was to be the excellent "mixed feelings", in my opinion one of the top party bands in the country and as you can see on their website here, highly sort after.

Despite the weather being extremely cold outside (we were later to receive our first snow of the winter) the party inside was in full swing, with some excellent speeches, and great music all being kept in smooth running order under the watchful eye of the excellent toastmaster Robert Persell.

Harrison and his brother Max, get in to the party with the band "Mixed feelings"

 An excellent evening enjoyed by everyone in attendance (especially me), just as parties should be!

Alexia and Pauls Pre wedding photographs, Colchester, Essex

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This weekend I took the trip over to meet up with Alexia and Paul in Colchester who had recently got engaged and plan to marry in the summer of 2012.  We had a great chat about their day and possible ideas that could happen.

We then took a short drive to Friday woods were we took a few photographs.  We timed it pretty well as it was probably the only time over the weekend when it wasn't raining althought it was very muddy underfoot (which added to the fun).
 
You can see a selection of the images we captured on the slideshow below.  You can also download this (and other) slideshows via i-tunes by clicking this link.  you can then add them to your i-phone or i-player so you always have them available to show anyone who may be interested.

I always try and do a pre wedding / engagement shoot for any couples that contact me when they're considering me as their photographer.  I find it helps everyone involved, the couple so they have an idea of me and how I work and me as I can get used to the couple and see what they want and how far I can push them.  It's like taking a test drive before you have to make a decision as to who you want to photograph your big day and best of all its completely free, drop me a line if you think you may be interested.

Photographing the NFL in London (American Football)

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Frank Gore celebrates a touchdown in front of the NFL Wembley crowd

49ers mascot in front of Nelsons Column

If you know me or have read this blog over the last few years you'll know that my other passion is American football.  I watch and photograph many British games all over the country.  I've also travelled across to the states several times to watch games from high school, college and pro leagues (Geaux LSU, Geaux Saints).

Well this past weekend the NFL came to London for it's fourth year in a row, every year the tickets for Wembley stadium sell out regardless of which teams are chosen to play.  Every year i've gone along and watched and loved every minute but this year was different.  This year I would achieve an aim I'd long harboured as a pro photographer to photograph the game from the sidelines.


During the day on Saturday the NFL had hired out Trafalgar Square and set up a huge party for all the fans of the NFL.  Luckily for me as a professional photographer i was allowed in the bear pit in the front of the stage giving excellent access for some great shots.  During the day some incredible people and acts took to the stage including, Roger Goodell (NFL commissioner), Jerry Rice (hall of fame player), the Gold Rush cheerleaders, American rapper, Asher Roth, dance group Flawless, 49ers head coach, Mike Singletary and FHM's hottest woman on the planet Marrisa Millar (sometimes being a photographer can be real hard work).

So having spent an incredible day in the city centre it was time to head back to the Green man hotel where the evening festivities were due to  start.  The Great British Tailgate Party (GBTP) at the Green man started around 7pm with the hilarious and ever popular snail racing, much fun was had by all in attendance and many friendships were made / renewed.

Martin Wilmott (that's me) centre stage with the Gold rush cheerleaders at the NFL fan rally, Trafalgar Square

 All too soon Sunday had arrived and with it had come rain.  Thoughts of the first NFL game in London came to mind when a newly laid Wembley pitch couldn't stand up to the heavy rain and hard pounding American football game rendering it a complete mess.  Little did i kn ow at the time but as i was soon to find out the Wembley playing surface has been completely replaced with what they call a 3% synthetic mix.  It's supposed to be that only 3% of the turf is artificial, I don't know the exact measurements but it looked more like the other way round.  If you look at some of my pictures here on my facebook page, you'll notice that there's no mud or grass on the players and the only stains on their uniforms have come from the paint on the field.  Let's just say if you were a cow on the field you'd very quickly starve to death.

San Francisco's Anthony Dixon attempts to make Eddie Royals head look backwards (an illegal tackle)

So about two hours before kick off i head down to Wembley sign in and get my official NFL photographers vest with my unique number printed on the back.  I later found out that the number is used to identify anyone breaking the rules so they can be asked to leave.  I was escorted into the photographer office (which involved sharing a lift with Jerry rice) where two separate rooms of desks were filled with photographers from all over the world with their laptops plugged in sending their images to the worlds newsdesks.


The game kicks off and the crowd roars, I've never experienced anything like 80,000+ people screaming their appreciation at me from the top of their lungs (and perhaps some other stuff going on inside inside the stadium) but it felt good.  All too soon the game came to a close, and I realised I hadn't been watching the game like i normally would do.  I was so concentrating on shutter speeds, apertures, and getting the framing right the game had blurred.  Having said that I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.


At the very end of the game all the payers / coaches meet in the middle of the field to shake hands and wish each other luck, as a photogarpher this is a heaven sent opportunity not to be missed allowing close up access to the players not available during play.

Tim Tebow of the Denver Broncos talks to San Francisco's Taylor Mays at the end off the game

My final shot is again proof that it's not all hard work working as a photographer, an image i'm gonna be dining out on for years to come.  Well, when this many good looking ladies ask to have their photograph taken with me I just had to oblige ;0)

Family Lifestyle Portrait Session, Wivenhoe, Essex

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About a week ago, I travelled over to the Essex college in Wivenhoe where I'd arranged to meet up with Steve, Heidi and young Joseph for a lifestyle portrait session.

It was a real fun afternoon and young Jospeh certainly kept us all on our toes all day, he's got the cutest smile ever and is full of energy.  However he didn't quite get the idea that the bread he was given was supposed to be for the ducks, prefering to eat it himself instead.

 You can see a short slideshow of some the images from the shoot below.  You can also download the slideshow via itunes by clicking here.  You should then be able to add it to your i=phone or video i-pod.

Naomi and James Wedding, Elmstead Market, Colchester

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One thing about being a wedding photographer in Essex is every location is different.  Unlike when working in London there is often large rural areas that if the weather is kind and with a little bit of effort can help in creating some real memorable images.

Naomi and James got married at a small little church near Naomi's parents house in Elmstead market where Naomi and her bridesmaids got ready.   The whole day went without a hitch and was very enjoyable for everyone who came.


One of my favourite detail shots was this one of Naomis shoes on the piano, I was later told by Naomi that his piano had been a gift to her Grandfather and Grand mother on their wedding day which helps to make the image even more special.

You can see a selection of images from their wedding day on the slideshow below.  you can also download this show via i-tunes and then add it to an i-phone or i-pod by clicking here.

BritBowl 2010

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If you've followed this blog for a while you'll know in my free time I like to watch American football.  Well this weekend was the culmination of the years efforts and the best teams in the country gathered at the sixways stadium in Worcester for their respective finals.

The finals stretched over the whole weekend and covered flag and full contact from cadet (7 and up) through junior, youth and senior.  I must say it was a joy to see the youngsters playing flag American football in the stadium, the look on their faces showed what it meant to them.

The big game was of course the senior leagues kitted final which was played on the Saturday evening between the Coventry Jets and the London Blitz.  The final was a lot closer than many had thought it would be with some incredible plays on both sides of the ball throughout the game. The final result was London Blitz 34 - Coventry Jets 20.  Unfortunately due to me having arranged to meet someone on the Sunday (who didn't turn up) I couldn't stay for the second days events but I'm sure it ran as smoothly as the first day.  All in all an excellent weekend of American football.

Hannah and Dylans Wedding in Peldon, Colchester

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I've just got back from showing Hannah and Dylans their images from their fantastic wedding.  I first met Hannah and Dylan back in March when we talked about their day then took a few pictures (link to their pre wed shoot) .

Having had such fun on that day I had no doubt their wedding day would be a real fun event and it certainly was.  The church (St. Mary the Virgin) was just a few minutes away from Hannah's parents house (where the party was to be held), so the pressure of getting lost was non existent taking away something that can be a major stress, I did raise a smile when I mentioned to a nervous Dylan at the alter that the girls were going to be late cause the sat nav had gone wrong.

The ceremony was ministered by Dylans uncle so it really was a tight family service.  After a few pictures at the church it was time to head back to the marquee set up in the garden.

 The evening couldn't have been any better with some fantastic food, top notch speeches and a band that really rocked the house (well marquee).  A truely magical day and an honour to have photographed.

Family Portrait Shoot in the Park, Braintree, Essex

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Last Saturday we saw the first serious rain we've had in quite some time.  Whilst no doubt the countries gardeners and farmers were relieved I must admit it wasn't good news to me.  My problem was I was due to meet up with a couple of families in the local park on Sunday and whilst photography in the rain can produce some interesting images it's far easier to have fun when the suns shining.

Luckily mother nature was kind and Sunday saw a welcome return of the sun.  In no time at all we were all having fun and running around, jumping and shouting (I'm just a big kid really).  It's not rocket science, if you want good images of children, just have fun and it all comes natural.

Below is a short slideshow showing some of the images. If you look closely you'll spot some of the local wildlife who wanted to be in the photographs, fantastic.   You can download this slideshow through i-tunes by clicking here, you can then transfer it to an i-phone or i-player.

New Born Baby Masons first Photography Shoot, Southend on Sea

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I'm extremely proud how past clients quickly become friends and It was a fantastic honour to travel down to Southend on sea and revisit, Taylor and Nateisha who's wedding I had the pleasure of photographing last year.  This time there was a new star of the show, their beautiful new born baby boy, Mason.

Little Mason was an absolute star and slept through most of the shoot only occasionally waking up to check out what was going on around him. 

Mason is just over four weeks old, If you've seen my baby pictures before you'll know I consider the early stages the perfect time for capturing the best baby images (ideally in the first two weeks).  If you have a baby please don't delay in making enquiries, babies change so quickly and you'll never have an opportunity to get these pictures again.

You can see a few more images in a slideshow below by clicking play.  You can also download this slideshow via i-tunes by clicking this link and then watch it on your computer or transfer it to your i-phone or i-pod.

Family Portrait Photography in Essex

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This weekend I travelled the short distance to Felsted where I had been commissioned to photograph a family grouping.  I love this sort of shoot as very often the varoius family members haven't seen each other for a while.  This was very much the case as one part of the family had travelled over from Arizona, a perfect chance to capture the family together all at one time, as well as some individual images.


As you can see in the top image here, we had one member of the family (the pet dog Charlie) who was certainly intent on being the star of the show.  Every group shot he would come and check out what was going on just to make sure everything was in order.

It's funny because at the free portrait training day I ran recently one of the things I covered was how to make someone in a group the centre of attention.  I have to admit, it's not something I've done with animals before but the basics remain the same, something that I have a feeling I'll be doing again.  Sunday turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year the shoot took a little over an hour and I'm very pleased with the end result.  You can see a few of the images in a slideshow below.  If you want your family photographed in a fun a natural way (I don't do boring) don't hesitate to give me a call on 01376 567995 or drop me an e-mail.  A family portrait session costs just £85 (travel over 20 miles is extra).   Your family will never be this age again, don't miss it.

Goldilocks and the Four Wedding Photographers

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I was chatting to a fellow pro photographer the other day and we got around to discussing the natural progression photographers follow.  As everything there are those that these general guidelines don't apply to (and if you take photographs you're probably convinced you're one of them) but I'll hold my hand up and admit, I've been through all of these stages including the horrible overphotoshop one, eughhh!  

Anyway I thought a good way to explain the different levels would be tell you the story of Goldilocks and the four wedding photographers, so if you're sitting comfortably, i'll begin.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess called Goldilocks who had met and fallen in love with her very own prince charming.  In no time at all they had realised they were meant to be together and begun arranging their wedding day.  Now the prince was a very busy man and being male had left all the important details to be arranged by his beloved Goldilocks which she had done in a very short period of time.  All that remained to be done was to find the right type of photographer that could capture her day in the way she wanted to remember it.  So she drafted a letter to go to all the kingdom stating she wished to see all the kingdoms photographers.

On the first day she saw the talented amateur photographer who showed her his work and whilst it seemed adequate it lacked the overall wow factor Goldilocks was looking for.  She couldn't quite put her finger on it but the images although well exposed and posed seemed to lack the pozaz she was looking for. So she thanked the talented amateur photographer and sent him on his way. 

 On the second day young Goldilocks interviewed the "I'm not confident enough so i turn everything black and white specialist".  Now the images he showed were striking but as Goldilocks soon found out after seeing page after page of black and white images they all seemed rather ... well dull.  Goldilocks new she liked Black and White but had discovered that too much of one thing just doesn't work.

So now on the third day Goldilocks interviewed the third photographer who was strangely named "look how clever I am in photoshop.com".  Again this photographer had an impressive catalogue of images all of which looked stunning in their own way.  However what Goldilocks soon realised was that whilst it was groovy to have a modern style image looking like something straight out of a Doctor Who poster when it came to wedding images in an album it just looked a mess.  Much more than five minutes of looking at them left her feeling like her eyes wanted to bleed.  She thanked the photographer and sent him on his way.

On the fourth day she interviewed the "Just right photographer".  He showed and explained that with a good image and the right type of touching up in photoshop you should be able to make a good image great, without causing distress to the viewer.  Goldilocks looked through his images and realised in an instant that this was exactly what she had been looking for, not too little black and whites and not too much over saturation and photoshop magic.

 The images looked alive without being over powering so she booked the photographer.

A long time after the wedding when she sat with her grandchildren looking through the record of her wedding (her album) she would often look back and be happy that she had taken the time to look at the different levels of photographers in her Kingdom.  As Goldilocks looked through the lasting record of her magical day she thought about her beloved prince charming and thanked the fact he had left the choice of photographer up to her so she could be happy ever after ......... the end.  

I was going to put a bit in about a wicked step uncle who had a nice camera and had said they would photograph the wedding for free (always a recipe for disaster), but I prefer my tales to finish with a happy ending rather than tears.


It's also worth mentioning that the couple in the images above are in fact Gemma and Paul who I had the honour of photographing recently.  Whilst their wonderfull day was it's own fairytale the above story is completely made up and the images are used only as a visual explanation.

Photographers are not terrorists!

Once again the humble photographer has been branded as a nuisance as he tries to take pictures.  Is it just me or do the Police use the "Prevention of Terrorism" law to enforce the "we don't like what you're doing so stop it" law.  For example who can forget the 82 year old gentleman ejected from the Labour conference for objecting about the Iraq war, he was arrested under the (guess what) Prevention of Terrorism act (you must see the video here).

I love the way the photographer in question, Jules Mattsson, kept his cool and forced the police who were trying to stop him taking photographs to back track, when they realised that they had no right to ask him to stop.  The urban myth of you have to have permission from their parents was used and he correctly told them that was not true (If it was the many city CCTV operators would have to ask the parents of any child in the town centres to sign forms).

The photographer, Jules Mattsson,  in the video is currently taking legal advise and will probably sue the police for stopping him carrying out his job (freelance photographer).  Photographers must really start pointing out to the Police that taking photographs of people in a public place is not illegal and no permission has to be sort.  You can read his story on his blog here.

New Born Baby Photography in Essex

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At the weekend I took the trip from Essex up to Nottingham where a brand new baby was awaiting her first photo shoot.  Nick, (my web designer at two little fishes) and his wife Tamsin proudly showed off their beautiful new baby girl and were joined by her proud grandparents.  

There's something so special about photographing new born babies, it's such a precious time for everyone involved, everything is new and exciting. The trick to great baby photographs is to photograph them as soon as possible, personally I believe the first two weeks are the golden time, of course each baby is different but, if you call me when you leave the hospital, i'll meet you at your house (it's that important).

  


Young Charlotte here was as good as gold and we got some real special images as you can see in the slideshow above, she even got in the world cup fever and cheered on England in her own cute way.  She'll never be this age again but there'll always be the photographs as a reminder of this very special time.  Many thanks to her loving mum, dad, nanny, grandad and of course to Charlotte herself for being such stunning models making the whole shoot so easy.

i-Phone problems

Recently my i-phone has started picking up a few problems when i've been running.  After some research i've found the solution (touch wood) and thought i'd post a blog entry so others who may have a similar problem can solve it.

The problem is when running all of a sudden the voice control cuts in which automatically cuts off anything you happen to be listening to and really annoying in my case, stops the map my run app from working.  It would appear that it's likely to be caused by sweat getting into the built in microphone in the cable.  This probably explains why up until recently (when we've started getting alot warmer) this hasn't been a problem.
 
luckily after googling the fault I came across this link, where apple acknowledges the problem and offers a replacement set of earpieces free ... i've just applied for mine so i'll see when the new set turn up if it solves the issue.

***UPDATE***

So I received my new earphones from Apple very quickly (couple of days) and for about a week they were great.  Unfortunately exactly the same problem re-emerged soon after (about 5 runs later). So I contacted Apple again and again they sent me another headset replacement.  However since then I went to the local pound shop and bought a set of ear phones (without a microphone) that I now use for running and keep the official apple headphones for non running use, airplanes, walking etc.

So although apple did well in their attempts to fix the problem by a speedy replacement scheme the earphones are simply not made for people who go runnning.  My advice, go to the pound shop and get a cheap earphone set but be aware you won't be able to answer calls with them.

Gemma and Pauls Wedding Blessing, Canvey Island

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This weekend was the hottest that the UK has seen for quite some time, and when the weathers good there's only one place anyone should be, the beach!

Having said that, there was the wedding blessing of Gemma and Paul that needed photographing but having photographed them earlier in the year on their free pre wed shoot I had an idea they were a fun couple that might be up for anything. The photography test drive had been in snow and the wedding blessing was in extreme heat so there really couldn't have been anything more different! (click here to see their pre wed photography test drive)

The day started at Paul's parents house where everyone was getting ready, as Paul and Gemma had married the week earlier in St. Lucia it was a very relaxed and fun environment with everyone mucking in with the preparation.

As you can see from the slideshow below it all went without a hitch and was a magnificent day enjoyed by all.  You can download this slideshow via i-tunes and have it on your i-phone / player by clicking here.

 

Having enjoyed the wedding blessing ceremony all the guests headed to a friends nearbye house where a marquee had been erected whilst, Paul, Gemma and I headed out to the beach.  When we arrived the tide was on it's way in meaning we had to work super fast in the small area of sand we had left.

 I must say Paul and Gemma were fantastic to work with and in some cases brave.  I find if the Bride and groom are willing to go with it and be brave it opens up all sorts of exciting possibilities when it comes to composition.   I even found enough of an excuse to go for a paddle whilst taking the pics and I was very tempted to go the whole hog and dive straight in, the water was so cooling.


It's a common mistake that people think bright sunshine is good and makes best wedding photography conditions.  In fact the complete opposite is true and harsh bright sunshine can cause all sorts of problems.
  
However a little bit of tactical positioning and knowledge meant we could use the sun to our advantage and capture some fun and dynamic shots.


All in all a fantastic day spent with lovely people.

Being a Granulocyte Donor

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So about a week ago a friend on facebook sent out an urgent message that someone who's son was seriously ill desperately needed donors from blood group A pos to give blood.  I new this was my blood group (being an ex-soldier) and rang the number on the message to see if I could assist in some way.  What followed was a short conversation with the young lads (Billy) mother who explained they were desperate for people who could give up some time and travel to Londons Kings College Hospital. 

I think at this stage I should say that I am no way a medical expert and my writings here are only my laymans terms understandings of what is happening and why, if anyone reading this need further information or has medical queries please seek advice from an expert.


Here's an explanation written by Billy's mother on the "Get well soon Billy" facebook page explaining his condition,
 
"on the 25th of January Billy was admitted to T12 NORTH at UCLH ... This is a teenage cancer trust ward and although billy does not have cancer he has a life threatening illness... The illness is called APLASTIC ANEMIA which he has severe... Aplastic anemia is a condition where bonemarrow does not produce sufficient new cells to replemish blood cells.. patients with it have lower counts in all 3 blood cells .. white, red and platelets.. BILLY HAS IT VERY SEVERE... he has had a course of ATG which we will find out soon if it has helped.. but in the mean time they are looking internationally for a bonemarrow donor and possibly another course of ATG.... he will need antibiotics, platelets transfusions and blood transfusions very often"

I haven't met young Billy yet, he's not really up for strange visitors, but an exception was made when JLS visited the hospital (see image below captured by the sun newspaper) although Billys dad told me when the new prime minister, David Cameron, visited Billy decided he wasn't of enough importance and as such didn't grant him an audience, lol.

So Billys mum passed on my details to the hospital and within an hour they had phoned and asked me to travel to London for a blood test the next day.  I travelled up at the appointed time (well I got a bit lost and was a little late) but they took the samples they needed and sent me on my way.  I have to be honest I didn't really know what I was getting myself into at this stage and I'm guessing there'll be a few people out there searching the web in the same boat which is part of the reason why I'm writing this blog post, to explain my point of view and perhaps answer some questions people may have.

The next morning I received another call from the hospital telling me I was in fact a match (I told them that, but I understand they had to confirm it) and could I come along tomorrow for more tests. 


So the next morning I found myself on the train again travelling back into London.  This time I had to go to Kings College Hospital at the Apheresis Unit, I arrived at the same time as two other people who I was later to find out were Billy's dad and one of his sisters who were there for the same reason I was.  The staff in the Apheresis unit are excellent, they talked through what the procedure would be and how it would all happen.  The basics are the blood would be taken from one arm and put into a machine that separates it into the various make up and they then extract the white blood cells (granulocytes) that fight infection.  The rest of the blood is then mixed up again and put back into the body via the other arm.  Having had all this explained it was a case of more blood being taken for screening (Hep B/C, HIV, HTLV, CMV, Syphilis etc) and a thorough medical including an ECG and blood pressure check.  The final thing was a private interview with a doctor who explained the procedure again and gave me the opportunity to ask any questions I may have.  It was explained that as long as everything was OK I would be given tablets to take and an injection to have the day before I was due to come in so my body would increase the amount of white blood cells it was producing.

Tuesday came and I got the call that I was needed on Wednesday and I should take the tablets and the injection.  Here's where I'm lucky in that my parents are both nurses so there was no hassle finding someone to administer the injection, although to be honest its something I could have done myself if needed. I hardly felt them at all (I had 2 because I'm a big guy) and I can honestly say it's nothing to worry about.


That evening I had some of the side effects they had warned me that were likely and they included a feeling in my lower back as if someone had put in a bicycle pump and given it a couple of pumps (that's how I can best describe it anyway) it wasn't at all painful but I was aware that it was different.  Apparently its caused by the bones working overtime creating all the extra white blood cells that were to be harvested the next day.  The other side effect I had was not being able to sleep, as the tablets were doing their thing.  To be honest neither were a major problem and as I write this blog entry 24 hours after taking them most of the effects have completely worn off.

So today was the day when the whole thing finally came together and my white blood cells would be harvested by the apheresis machine.  In no time (after more blood tests, blood pressure tests, temperature etc) I was made comfortable and a cannula (plastic needle) placed in each arm and connected to the various pipes.  The machine is switched on and for the next couple of hours I listened to my i-phone and read the newspaper.  I had hoped that I would be able to operate my laptop but it soon became obvious that wasn't going to be possible as the way the needle was in my right arm meant I couldn't really move it.  It's probably also worth mentioning that whilst a newspaper is just about doable I think I would have struggled to read a book because of the inability to do it one handed.

The process took around two hours and 15 minutes before I was finished on the machine a driver was waiting to whisk it away so they could give it to Billy immediately, which kind of impressed upon me how much it must have been needed.  After having been unplugged from the machine I was given another check over (more blood for tests, blood pressure and swabs) and a cup of tea.  I'm not sure when I'll be needed again but the likelihood is Monday I'm informed I can only do this a maximum of three times and everyone is hoping Billy's bone marrow operation is a success and he'll be able to start making his own white blood cells again.


Heroes and Zeroes

Heroes first, obviously Billy, I can't imagine how depressing it must be for a young guy (14) to be stuck in hospital feeling rough with continual blood tests and transfusions being given.  Keep smiling mate it won't be long before you're watching your beloved West Ham again.

Billy parents and family, for their continued support and love for the guy in trying circumstances.

The staff of the Apheresis Unit in King College hospital, a true bunch of professional and a pleasant bunch of people who couldn't do enough for me.

Joe Holland, who copied and posted the original facebook message on her wall alerting me to the fact I could do something to help.

and now the zeroes ...


The friends on facebook who didn't recopy and paste the message and in doing so reduced other peoples opportunities to help.  You personally may have been the wrong blood group or unable to help but someone you know may have been willing to, please remember this if another message comes up in the future.

The tape they use to hold the needles in place, it stings more than the needle does!