Our son James Frank Thomas was born prematurely at 28 weeks weighing 3lb2. He was absolutely perfect and put up a huge fight to survive. As soon as he was born James was placed in an incubator on the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in the Royal Gwent Hospital. James was given a crochet octopus to keep him company in his incubator and look after him when Laura and I were not by his bedside. The octopus is given to premature babies to stop them pulling at the leads in their incubator, to stop the baby becoming distressed and anxious and also to give them a sense that they are still in the womb and pulling at the umbilical cord.

I am planning to run the Cardiff half marathon on Sunday 7th October 2018 to raise money for this ‘Octopus for a Preemie’ charity but also in memory of my son James. Unfortunately James had severe bleeds on his lungs and brain and he peacefully passed away in our arms at 5 days old. I would be grateful for any money that you can spare me for this fantastic charity and also to keep the memory of James alive.

Thank you

Shawnee