On the 20th of September, a group of us will be doing the National Three Peaks Challenge, climbing the highest mountains of England, Scotland and Wales within 24 hours, to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Alder Hey.

Matilda was born with a rare congenital heart defect that required a complicated operation to give her the best chance at a long & normal life. Under her cardiologist (Dr Phuoc Duong) we pushed for a ‘bi-vent repair’, which meant repairing her heart to as near normal as possible. This is a fairly new, but more risky way of treating certain heart conditions that means better lifelong outcomes.

We lived at Alder Hey whilst waiting for Matilda to grow big enough for surgery. Phu got a surgeon who agreed to carry out the surgery on Matilda, despite the risks, and on the 31st August 22 her heart was repaired by her surgeon, Ram. After 10 hours in theatre, Matilda made it through.

Recovery was rocky but we finally got to take our baby home at 6 months of age, just in time for her first Christmas. Over the next 8 months, we were able to create lifelong memories which we are forever grateful for.

In August 23 Matilda went back to Alder Hey for a routine procedure that should have meant a few days in hospital, and to help get her off oxygen. During the procedure they discovered she had Pulmonary Hypertension and other complications in her lungs which meant she didn’t recover. What should have been fairly straightforward, ended up being something completely different.

Losing a child is something no parent should ever have to go through. The Matilda Rengers Foundation will support charities & causes close to our hearts, and that support families and children in similar situations to ours. This is our way of parenting our little girl.

All the money raised will go towards sponsoring one of the rooms they stayed in at Mac House. If we raise our target amount of £5000, we can sponsor the room under Matilda's name for three years.

Thank you everyone for your support. 💛

Beth & Christian xoxo