Register

Login

Vet Times logo
+
  • View all news
  • Vets news
  • Vet Nursing news
  • Business news
  • + More
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Crossword
  • View all clinical
  • Small animal
  • Livestock
  • Equine
  • Exotics
  • All Jobs
  • Your ideal job
  • Post a job
  • Career Advice
  • Students
About
Contact Us
For Advertisers
NewsClinicalJobs
Vet Times logo

Vets

All Vets newsSmall animalLivestockEquineExoticWork and well-beingOpinion

Vet Nursing

All Vet Nursing newsSmall animalLivestockEquineExoticWork and well-beingOpinion

Business

All Business newsHuman resourcesBig 6SustainabilityFinanceDigitalPractice profilesPractice developments

+ More

VideosPodcastsDigital EditionCrossword

The latest veterinary news, delivered straight to your inbox.

Choose which topics you want to hear about and how often.

Vet Times logo 2

About

The team

Advertise with us

Recruitment

Contact us

Vet Times logo 2

Vets

All Vets news

Small animal

Livestock

Equine

Exotic

Work and well-being

Opinion

Vet Nursing

All Vet Nursing news

Small animal

Livestock

Equine

Exotic

Work and well-being

Opinion

Business

All Business news

Human resources

Big 6

Sustainability

Finance

Digital

Practice profiles

Practice developments

Clinical

All Clinical content

Small animal

Livestock

Equine

Exotics

Jobs

All Jobs content

All Jobs

Your ideal job

Post a job

Career Advice

Students

More

All More content

Videos

Podcasts

Digital Edition

Crossword


Terms and conditions

Complaints policy

Cookie policy

Privacy policy

fb-iconinsta-iconlinkedin-icontwitter-iconyoutube-icon

© Veterinary Business Development Ltd 2025

IPSO_regulated

6 Mar 2023

Teesside vet leads fund-raiser for family facing daughter’s surgery agony

A 10-year-old girl who is awaiting major surgery for cysts on her brain will have both parents with her in her recovery thanks to a campaign led by her family’s vet.

author_img

Allister Webb

Job Title



Teesside vet leads fund-raiser for family facing daughter’s surgery agony

Clinical director Kim Taylor-Morton at Grange Vets in Norton, Stockton-on-Tees, with Maisie Harris. Image: Grange Vets

A Teesside vet has led an online fund-raiser for a couple whose daughter is preparing to undergo major surgery.

Kim Taylor-Morton, clinical director of Grange Vets in Norton, Stockton-on-Tees, set up the GoFundMe page in support of clients Shane and Hayley Harris.

Their 10-year-old daughter, Maisie, currently endures up to 30 seizures a day due to cysts in her brain that mean she is only able to attend school for an hour every other day.

She is due to have an operation at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital later this month.

Kim Taylor-Morton, from-Grange-Vets, with Maisie (10) and her parents Shane and Hayley Harris. Image: Grange Vets
Kim Taylor-Morton, from-Grange-Vets, with Maisie, 10, and her parents Shane and Hayley Harris. Image: Grange Vets

But only one of her parents can stay at the hospital with her, meaning the other faces a potentially substantial hotel bill or staying at home.

Ongoing care

Dr Taylor-Morton set an initial £1,800 target to cover hotel costs for the period Maisie is expected to be in hospital.

That has already been exceeded, with one anonymous donor contributing most of the required funds themselves.

Dr Taylor-Morton said: “They are lovely clients and Maisie is a really sweet girl.

“When I heard about the situation, I had to do something – initially to help so both parents can be close to hand immediately after her surgery, and for each other, but also so the whole family can have resources for ongoing care and make up for lost time when she is recovered.

“The response has been incredible – especially the £1,700 donation. It’s just what was needed to take the heat off.”

‘Life changing’

Mr Harris said the fund-raising was “life changing” for the family, whose pet English bulldog, Kobi, has developed a vital bond with both Maisie and her two brothers, Lawrence, eight, and Finley, six.

He said: “Kobi loves all the kids, and he senses the seizures now. It started a couple of months ago when we were eating and Maisie went to the bathroom.

“The dog went crazy. I thought someone was at the front door and went to check just as Maisie was starting to fall.

“The dog did it again a couple of days later. The next thing, she went into a seizure and we caught her in time. It is amazing. We know now he will bark or run to Maisie if something happens.”

The fund-raising page can be found online.