On the 23rd April I will be taking part in the London Marathon and raising money for the amazing team at Nottingham City Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

On the 5th January 2021 my nephew Milo was born at burton hospital - but very quickly after being born it became very clear that little Milo was unwell and needed special care. Milo had to be ventilated and stabilised sufficiently before being transferred from burton hospital to the ambulance and then from the ambulance to to the Nottingham City NICU - this took a full 12 hours of specialist teams working there whole shift to make sure Milo was in a stable enough position to make the journey to Nottingham while also having to prepare Milo’s mom and dad that there’s a significant chance of Milo not making it.

When at the Nottingham NICU Milo was under the care of Dr Schoonakker, who’s brilliant thinking without a doubt gave Milo a fighting chance of surviving. He was diagnosed with PPHN (persistent pulmonary hypertension in newborns) and Sepsis. The infection had caused severe pressure in his lungs and blood flow between his lungs and heart had caused his heart to swell and his lungs to collapse. Milo was placed on the highest level of care the hospital could provide while an enormous concoction of medicines fought the sepsis and controlled the pressure in his heart and lungs. Day by day, Milo began to stop deteriorating, finally stabilising, and then gradually improving.

The NICU consultants, doctors, transport teams, and nurses didn’t just take care of Milo, they took care of Milo’s mom and dad too- my brother and sister in law.

And for this and there amazing work in saving my little nephews life I want to give back and give them the help and opportunity to be able to give another family the positive help and news they gave my brother and sister in law and allow another child to recover and live there life to the fullest and happiest they can.