On 15th May 2017 our son Alfie was born and immediately taken to the Evelina NICU at St Thomas' Hospital where they could not be sure that he would survive his first night or his first few days. He received exceptional life-saving care including 3 days of being cooled to prevent further brain damage and 3 weeks of ventilation to help him breathe. What felt like a million scans and tests showed that Alfie was very poorly but they could not give us a specific diagnosis - he's one in a million. We didn't know if we'd ever get him home or what his life would be like. The incredible staff provided Alfie and our whole family with the most amazing support. After 4 and a half weeks in the NICU, Alfie was well enough to be moved into the care of Savannah Ward in the Evelina Children's Hospital.

Without the care and support of the staff at the Evelina we could not have gotten through such a horrific time in our lives. We spent a number of special occasions in the Evelina and they made sure that they were just as special for us spending them at the hospital as they would've been at home including my birthday and Father's Day. They made it a place where, despite everything, Charlotte enjoyed going to visit her new baby brother. Without the miracles that the staff worked and the equipment available to them, Alfie would not be at home with us today and doing so well. Alfie is still under their care - and will be for the foreseeable future - for more tests and treatments and we could not ask for a better place or better staff to be looking after our baby boy.

Alfie is our miracle but the staff at the Evelina are the miracle workers and to say thank you we want to show our support by raising as much as we can to help them continue to provide the fantastic help and support that we received to other families who need it. Therefore, myself and a small group of friends and family will be walking a distance of 21.4 miles between the 4 south London football grounds - starting at AFC Wimbledon's home KIngsmeadow, moving on to Crystal Palace's home of Selhurst Park and then to The Den of Millwall, before finishing up at Charlton Athletic's home of The Valley. We hope you can help us to support them by donating anything you can and thank you in advance for sponsoring us.