Jack was born in craigavon area hospital on the 18/11/2010. He made a surprise appearance at 9 and a half weeks early and weighed in at 3lb 13 oz. Jack went straight to Neonatal where he was taken care of by an amazing team of nurses and doctors that looked after all of his medical needs and not forgetting plenty of cuddles too! They also helped us as parents manage this tiny little bundle.
Jack spent 4 weeks in neonatal and we couldn't have got through this worrying and challenging time without the support from the whole team.

Jack is now 10 years old and thankfully has never looked a day behind him!
 

That is Niall and Emma's story.  Niall came up with the idea of raising money for the charity as a way of giving something back to help families in a similar situation.  He roped me (Damian) in as he knew my niece Nancy was also a premature baby.  My sister Louise and her husband Adams story is below.

Nancy was born in Antrim Area Hospital on 21/10/2016. As a result of complications with my pregnancy, labour was induced at 34 weeks to save both me and her. Following delivery and weighing just a tiny 3lb 7oz, Nancy was taken straight to the Neonatal Department where she was cared for by the most fantastic team of Doctors, Nurses and auxiliaries. Nancy spent just over 6 weeks in Neonates getting home on the day that she should have been born. We will be eternally grateful for the care she recieved while in the department not to mention the support and compassion shown to us by the staff on a daily basis. I have said this so many times but they were more like family to us during the most worrying time of our lives and for that we will always hold a special place for them in our hearts. Nancy is now a happy and healthy, 4 year old, full of life and energy and ready to start big school in September.

Tiny Life is an amazing charity that supported both families during this difficult time, by providing medical equipment, premature baby clothes (which are very hard to come by) and most importantly at that time someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on. Their daily visits were a blessing and something that helped a great deal at the time.

To raise money for the charity Niall has roped in a few friends - myself, the two Marty's, Deion and Frank -  to complete a 100 mile cycle on 3rd July.  We hope to have a few others join us by then.  With one exception none of us have sat on a road bike prior to taking this on so there will be a few spills and saddle sores along the way!

If you would like to make a donation however small it will go a long way in helping all the fabulous people that helped us and thousands of other people in situations like these across the province.