A determined dad is taking on a dozen challenges this year to thank a children’s charity that provided him and his partner with accommodation when their daughter was seriously ill in hospital.

Steve Midgley, 43 from Stockton-On-Tees, will cover over 100 miles in total to raise funds for and awareness of The Sick Children’s Trust – a charity that gives families of sick children free-of-charge accommodation on the doorstep of their child’s hospital.

Early this year, Steven’s 10-week-old daughter Jasmine became poorly with cold-like symptoms. The family took her to their local hospital where they kept her in overnight suspecting she had a severe cold. Worried something more serious was going on, Steven took it upon himself to research further into his daughter’s symptoms and asked the doctors for a second opinion.

The following day, Jasmine was rushed to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary for specialist treatment – she was suffering from a rare condition Subglottic hemangioma whereby a birthmark under her chin began to grown inwardly, causing her airways to narrow and leaving a just small slit for her to breathe through. During this time, The Sick Children’s Trust provided Steven and his partner Tanja with a room at their Crawford House at the RVI. Steven says:

“Crawford House was invaluable to us as it meant my partner and I could stay nearby the hospital whilst Jasmine was in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and we could be just seconds away if we were needed.

“It was an absolute godsend and gave us some normality throughout the ordeal. We were able to cook for ourselves, rather than eat just anything we could grab; and we could go back to the house and relax at the end of a tough day.”

THe self-confessed running novice will be taking on a variety of 10k runs alongside obstacle courses in order to ‘pay back’ the charity for its support. He continues:

“Thankfully, we only needed the house for a week and Jasmine was shortly discharged after her treatment. Hand on heart, I hadn’t heard of The Sick Children’s Trust before I needed them, so through my fundraising I hope to raise more awareness of the service they provide.

“I’m hoping to raise at least £300 to pay the charity back for the week we stayed, but of course the more the better to help them continue their work.”

The Sick Children’s Trust runs two houses in the North East – Crawford and Scott - in order to support families whose children seek specialist treatment from the RVI and Freeman Hospital. The houses have a direct phone line to the ward in the event parents need to be contacted, alongside kitchen and laundry facilities.

Gail Stonley, Crawford House Manager says: “We’re really pleased to hear that Jasmine is on the mend and we’re over the moon that so soon after their stay with us, Steven is thinking of us by taking on 12 challenges to help raise much needed funds. We wish him the best of luck!”

If you would like to support Steven on his journey, please visit:the official #teammidge facebook page at www.facebook.com/teammidge