Please help us to support our local 'Neonatal Intensive Care Unit' (NICU) in Burnley

John Bennett, Mick Bruce & Matt Craven are walking the National Three Peaks!

Three countries over three days in June (6th Ben Nevis / 7th Scafell Pike / 8th Snowdonia) & been expertly navigated & driven over 900 miles by Richard.

WHY?

You never really know the amazing work that goes on until they are called to action, well on Sunday 23rd April 2023 at 6am that happened when Louise & our unborn child were rushed into theatre. Raya was unfortunately struggling and was born not breathing, she had to be resuscitated & quickly rushed to NICU room 4 for immediate incubation. The team took the decision to transfer Raya onto a 'Cooling Blanket' for 72 hours to help prevent any further neurological damage.

Neonatal ICUs use specialized cooling mattresses to treat babies with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a condition caused by oxygen deprivation at birth. These mattresses lower the baby's body temperature to 33-34 degrees Celsius for 72 hours, slowing brain cell damage. While effective, this treatment limits parental contact, adding to the stress of an already difficult situation. Recovery varies, with some babies fully recovering and others experiencing long-term effects. Overall, this cooling therapy significantly improves outcomes for many babies with HIE.

Raya is testament to the above science, she is thriving, hitting all her milestones & showing no signs of any long term damage. Hopefully just after her second birthday she will be discharged which is a major milestone for us as a family and the reason we are fundraising for NICU.

Please dig deep & support our bonkers challenge, these are a few of the things fund raising has supported with:

- Providing further family engagement with video & photo updates

- Creating stayover rooms so that parents from outside of east Lancashire can stay close to their babies during care

- Introducing mounted iPad trolleys to enable parents living further afield to participate in ward rounds

- Introducing more advanced, specialised medical equipment

THANKYOU for reading!