"There is no greater challenge than saving a life that has yet to be lived".

The Neonatal Service at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne looks after newborn babies from all over the north of England. They look after about 600 newborn babies every year, and up to 30 can be with them at any one time. Tiny Lives supports this work and I wish to raise funds for this fantastic charity.

Oliver's story;

We found out my wife Louise was pregnant in November 2008, what should have been a happy occassion was clouded with anxiety and fear giving that she'd miscarried earlier that year in June. We were desparately counting down the days to the 12 week scan hoping we would gain the reassurance that this time everything would be fine. Three days before the scan was due we thought our worst fears had materialised as she started bleeding. The doctor at A&E suspected miscarriage but as the scan was booked and we could not get a quicker appointment we were told to wait for that to clarify. On that day we both broke down in the scan room as we explained why we were not expecting anything to see and why we were not full of excitement like most parents to be. The roller coaster of emotions however was only just beginning as we were then given the bombshell that not only was the baby fine they also had a brother or sister in there with them, Louise was expecting twins. From such a low to immediately be catapulted to such a high was unreal, we'd not even purchased any vouchers for scan photos, the staff at the RVI were brilliant and gave us loads free. We then started planning, we bought 2 of everything, we searched the internet for the best double buggies, cots, anything. At the 20 week scan this time we were excited we wanted to know what sex, we bought scan vouchers to get as many shots as possible. They started the scan, Twin 1 was fine we were having a boy, I could not have been happier, we waited to find out about Twin 2, we were told they were unable to see as there was little fluid around the baby. At this stage it still did not hit but we were then moved to a waiting room where the box of tissues on the table confirmed that this was not going to be a happy ending. Our second baby had multi cystic kidneys, there was little hope of survival as the kidneys did not work, the lungs would not develop and breathing unaided would be impossible. We struggled to understand why this was happening and we did not know how we would cope. Sadly it is only through being directly involved in something like this that you realise how good the hospital staff are, the support, reassurance and professionalism of everyone we had contact with was superb.

On 26th June 2009 my wife Louise gave birth to twin boys, Oliver Henry Largue fell asleep on the 27th June 2009 after 6 hours but he will always be with us in our hearts and his memory will live on in his twin brother Oscar who is now an energetic and fun loving 1 year old.

On the 23rd August this year I'm doing a sponsored bike ride to raise money to help premature babies. No parent should have to go through what we did and with vital funds more can be done to help poorly babies survive. I will cycle from Newcastle city centre along the Derwent Walk to Consett, across to Sunderland, up to South Shields and then back to Newcastle (approx. 55 miles). I currently am recovering from a broken hand and have been unable to train, add this to the fact that the furthest I've ever cycled before in one day is about 20 miles ensures this will be a challenging test but I'm confident as I know that my angel Oliver will be with me every step of the way.

 Please give generously and support an excellent cause. "Tiny Lives supports the Newcastle Neonatal Service and is part of the Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Nothumberland (Registered Charity number 700510)" www.tinylives.org.uk

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UPDATE!

26/8/10 - Bike ride completed was longer than expected 64.1 miles and took approx 6 hours cycling time. I'm now training for the C2C route 120 miles and will attempt that in 1 day next April. I'm going to continue and raise funds for Tiny Lives in memory of our Oliver.