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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;" lang="EN-GB">For our family, 2010 began abruptly with the unexpected and<span> </span><em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">very early</span></em><span> </span>arrival of our daughter Regan. She was born 12 weeks premature and weighed just 2 pounds 8 ounces (1.131 kg) and spent the first nine weeks of her life in the Neonatal Unit at Milton Keynes Hospital under the wonderful care of the doctors and nurses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span> </span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although our daughter was born a fighter and breathed air immediately, she contracted a virus aged two weeks old and was resuscitated a few times and needed to have a number of blood transfusions as well as antibiotics to help her fight the virus.<span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;" lang="EN-GB">The team of nurses and doctors in this high-dependence unit are very experienced and well trained, they work long hours with little break time to ensure that every fragile baby is continuously monitored and cared for with the utmost professionalism and compassion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span> </span></span>The nurses were great with us parents too, they would bend over backwards to help us bond with our baby, to answer our questions and give a shoulder to cry on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span> </span></span>By the time it came for Regan to come home, we felt like we were part of the unit’s family – we were there more than home!</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;" lang="EN-GB">The Neonatal Unit helps save the lives of over 350 premature and critically ill babies born each year. Vital equipment and an appropriate environment are needed to provide the most sophisticated care to these special patients.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">Babies admitted to the Neonatal Unit receive intensive, high dependency and special care. Neonatal or ‘special care’ babies are often called miracle babies, and their lives frequently depend on advancements in modern medicine.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"><span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">The demand for specialist services is growing. The hospital currently has 18 cots (to deliver intensive and special care), and plans to add a further four high dependency cots. A complete refurbishment is needed to enable the hospital to increase capacity to 22 cots, and allow equipment to be upgraded.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"></span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">The <em><span style="font-family: Arial;">Little Lives Appeal</span></em> aims to raise £250,000 for the Neonatal Unit, which will go towards a full refurbishment and redesign of the Unit.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">I’m running the London 10k to raise money for this charity, please help the Neonatal Unit and future families by donating what you can. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">Thank you x x</span></span></p>
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