From Friday 8th January, through to Saturday 13th March, Dad was critically ill in hospital having contracted Coronavirus. He spent time at both Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where he was extremely well looked after and cared for by their hospital teams. As well as looking after Dad, the staff at both hospitals kept our mum incredibly well informed throughout- so that she was able to keep his family and friends in the loop. Dad spent seven weeks in ICU, where he was in an induced coma and on a ventilator. He also developed a meningoencephalitis and had a small bleed in his brain. These were incredibly challenging and worrying times for us all. 

Luckily for us, our dad miraculously pulled through and is now recovering back at home. His progress over the last month has been incredible and he even has his eyes on a return to the golf course by the end of the year! We know that we are the lucky ones, as many people have lost loved ones to Covid during the last twelve months. Without the expertise, dedication and heroic effort from all of the staff at both hospitals, our family may have lost a husband, father and grandfather. We owe a huge amount of thanks to those heroes that cared for him and will always be eternally grateful. 

In order to show our thanks, we will be completing a combined 500k (between 3 of us) during the month of May, as part of the Run for Heroes campaign. Please support us by donating £5. All money raised will go towards the University Hospitals Birmingham Charity (see information about the work they do below). You can also join us by taking part in a 5k during May and nominating five friends to do the same. 

Thank you for your support. 

Nick, Jen and Dan

University Hospitals Birmingham Charity supports patients, families and NHS staff across five hospitals in the West Midlands - Queen Elizabeth, Heartlands, Good Hope, Solihull and NHS Nightingale Birmingham. During the current COVID-19 crisis, your donations are helping us to support our NHS superheroes. Delivering care packs to nurses, providing "wobble rooms" for staff to get psychological and emotional support, helping patients to stay in contact with their families by providing tablets with video conferencing apps and much more.