Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

We are raising money for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Saint Mary's Hospital, via the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust Charity.

Back in 2007 myself and Chris became the first people to complete the WLYC 24hr Race Non Stop, 12 years later we have forgotten how hard it was and we are back to do it again. However this time it will be much more emotional as we doing it to thank the Manchester Hospital's for everything they have done for both our children and to raise much needed funds for the NICU unit who saved Betsy's life. Betsy and Alex both had a tough start to life but thanks to the fantastic work of the NHS at both St Mary's NICU and the Children's hospital mean both Betsy and Alex are quickly approaching their second Birthdays as happy little toddlers! Betsy and Alex's stories are below.

Betsy's Story:

Having given birth to our baby girl, Betsy, 7 weeks premature and understanding she had a minor exomphalus (bowel that hasn’t successfully grown in the stomach fully and is partially in the umbilical cord) that was picked up on a 20 week scan. We knew she would possibly need a minor operation within the first 72 hours after she was born. She was ready for surgery 24 hours later, unfortunately, during this operation, that was expected to take only a couple of hours, the surgeons discovered a number of additional complex problems with her bowel. After a long 7 hour operation, she was back and in intensive care. After speaking to the surgeons after the operation, we knew we would be in the hospital at St. Mary’s, Manchester for a long time and Betsy would need a further major operation to hopefully fix the problems with her bowel. 7 weeks later, on 21st December, Betsy went for her second operation. Both us and the surgeons were very nervous about the surgery because of the complexity of her bowel problems is a combination they had never come across before and they were unsure how the operation would go. To everyone’s delight, the operation was successful and the bowel had reacted exactly how the surgeons wanted and Betsy was finally on the road to recovery. After 3 further weeks in hospital, Betsy had become strong enough and was discharged which was the word we had longed to hear. In total, Betsy was in hospital for 71 days and we can not express our gratatude enough for the hero's in NICU that saved Betsy's life and supported us thoughout our time on the unit. The Nurses, surgeons and doctors are truly inspirational people, they are the reason I am taking on this challenge! 

During our 20 week scan we found out Alex would be born with bilateral talipes. After the initial shock and with some research we discovered that this isn’t so uncommon and can affect 1 in 1000 children. With the correct treatment and care given to Alex by the Manchester Children’s Hospital, his condition has been fully corrected and we were so proud to see the little monkey walking by his first birthday. The treatment is ongoing until alex is 4-5 years old, to prevent relapse. This treatment consists of Alex being in a leg brace for 12 hours a day, with regular monitoring by the physio and consultant at Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Talipes can occur when the muscles on the outer side of the leg are weaker than those on the inside of the leg. The tendons on the inside of the leg also become shorter than normal. In talipes the bones of the foot are abnormally shaped and the Achilles tendon is tight.

Thank you for your support,

Chris, Hannah & Alexander Robinson