A PANTOMIME is set to be held in Kingswood as a thank you to Southmead Hospital after the care which staff provided to a mum and her baby daughter.

Sharon Simpson, who was born and raised in Kingswood and lives with her husband Andy and two-year-old daughter Esme, was 33 weeks pregnant when she was taken into the Intensive Care Unit at Southmead.

Following tests, staff decided that Sharon needed an emergency C-section.

Fortunately the operation went smoothly and a potential crisis was averted and her second daughter, Merryn Grace, was born and was put into a coma for nine days as a precaution.

Early on in her pregnancy, Sharon was diagnosed with cancer at Southmead and attended the hospital regularly throughout the pregnancy undergoing gruelling rounds of chemotherapy.

Despite this, she was determined to stay upbeat for her family.

At the time of this article’s publication the family are hoping that Sharon will soon be in remission.

Sharon’s brother Wayne Fifield had the idea to organise the pantomime – Jack and the Beanstalk – to raise funds as a thank you.

“All of the Southmead teams were incredible in their care of Sharon and the baby,” he said.

“We all wanted to thank the hospital and so I came up with the idea of a pantomime.

"I had hoped to slip under the radar and play the back of the cow but I am now playing the King.

“I remembered the fun they had as children going along to the village hall to watch pantos and he wanted to recreate this fun for the village and also raise money for Southmead Hospital Charity - specifically haematology, the medical day care, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and maternity units.”

More than £3,300 has already been raised via the pantomime team, with the target set at £5,000.

The pantomimes will be held on October 27 and 28 in Kingswood Village Hall.

For further information and tickets email gillianLpiper@gmail.com or call 07977123014.

The team behind the pantomime are also asking taking donations via a fundraising page, all of which will go to Southmead Hospital.

To donate visit bit.ly/2ghqX4l.