.Today is a very special day for our family - it marks the first birthday of our daughter, Clementine Hope. It’s a day we thought we’d only ever see in our dreams.

On the day Clementine was born, every parent’s worst nightmare become our reality. Our little baby girl’s condition was critical. She was resuscitated numerous times and urgently transferred Liverpool’s Arrowe Park’s Intensive Care Unit.

Clementine spent her first five weeks in intensive care where she was hooked up to a ventilator and more wires than you can imagine. Her unstable condition mean she was 3 weeks old until we even got to hold her in our arms. Watching our fragile little girl fighting for her life was truly, truly heart-breaking.

Despite being told every day for the first few weeks that Clementine might not make it through the night, every single day she surpassed all expectations. Every time she was fronted with an obstacle, she would amazingly surprise us all. She is our miracle baby. We have the strongest little girl imaginable and after two months in the intensive care and high dependency units, Clementine finally came home on 23rd of April.

During this extremely difficult time we were lucky enough to have been given a room at the Ronald McDonald’s House at Arrowe Park Hospital. This beautiful charity kept our family together at the most difficult time of our lives. They gave us somewhere to stay just above where our little princess was fighting so hard for her life. We were never more than a few minutes away from her the entire time. The staff worked hard to uplift our spirits while being very respectful. Nothing was too much trouble. This wonderful charity provides families with somewhere to rest, cook and sleep all within a short distance from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and doesn't charge a penny to parents, like us, who really needed it. During such a hard time, I don’t know what we would have done without them.

To mark this special day of Clementine turning one, we would like to give back to this charity who has done so much for our family. So, on 20th June I will be taking part in Ronald McDonald’s House Charity sky diving weekend. Yes, I will be jumping out of a plane. We would love to raise as much money as possible and would be so grateful of every single donation, however big or small.

Thank you