Where do I start... My wife works for Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust and after a superb experience received in the birth of our first daughter Gracie in 2017, having our second daughter at St Thomas' Hospital was a no brainer. What was un-expected was our daughter Kallie being born early. Kallie was due 12th January 2022 however, arrived on the 17th November 2021, Premature on World Premature Day.

From my Wife Katie experiencing contractions whilst working at St Thomas' Hospital and being admitted there were 2 days... 2 days before the arrival of our premature baby... nothing could prepare us... How developed would Kallie be? Could we hold her? What will happen when she is born? But from getting the call to state I need to get to the hospital at 02:30am on the 17th November and moving Katie into the Delivery suite, the Midwifery and neo-natal staff were exceptional, putting us at ease; although asking for our input, we were happy for them to do what they deemed sufficient. Nothing could prepare us.
Kallie arrived at 08:45am on World Premature Day (17th November) she started to Cry which was all we needed to hear. Within a few minutes and after Kallie being stabilized by the Neo-natal team she was taken to the Neo-Natal ward.

I went with Kallie initially to the neo-natal ward which prepared me… although… could you ever be prepared? The staff again could not explain enough what was happening and why things were doing what they were doing. Day after day passed and the juggling of family life and ensuring Kallie was never alone, was scheduled with military precision. Every time I arrived on the ward something had changed with Kallie, breathing tube removed, lines removed, feeding tube removed and finally monitoring removed. As per normal practice the need to move Kallie to a more local hospital was upon us and in the nicest possible way… we were happy to be saying good-bye to the Neo-natal ward, Special Care Baby Unit and staff.

At our more local hospital again everyday saw large improvements until we were discharged with Kallie at 35 Weeks. However, we did not know we would be making another journey to St Thomas’ Evelina again.

Having Kallie home for a week she developed a cough that when we got her medically checked they diagnosed bronchitis… which could have a serious impact on a premature baby. We thought we had experienced the worse part going through the Neo-natal route but by far having our defenceless daughter ventilated to support her breathing at 36 weeks was extremely challenging. We were blue- lighted by South Thames Retrieval Service to St Thomas’ Evelina and admitted onto the PICU Evelina Children’s Hospital. This again was a huge eye-opener… it was like walking into an open planned hospital ward, with beds and cots everywhere with large amounts of staff caring for the sick children. Yet again, two days ventilated Kallie was removed from all support and back naturally feeding. The staff were not only supporting Kallie but also keeping Myself and Katie mentally sane. After several days of Kallie improving and no longer needing any assistance, we were again discharged to our local hospital for one night.

The care and dedication received from all at St Thomas’ and Evelina Hospital was superb and I feel totally indebted to them all. So, this explains the reasons why myself and my wife owe so much to St Thomas’ Neo-natal ward and Evelina and I immediately started to look at ways I could give something back. Being an avid cyclist and up for a challenge… Ride London / Essex 100 seems like a good start to test myself and raise some much-earned funds for Evelina Charity.

I appreciate all your support and if you are free on the 29th May 2022 please come and see me hopefully finishing the ride at the iconic Tower Bridge (I cannot provide a time as of yet…. Hopefully as early as possible, but will provide regular updates on this page).

Here is a little bit of information provided by Evelina London Children’ Hospital ‘We’re an ever-growing family of people who are inspired by Evelina London Children’s Hospital’s pioneering care and passionate about supporting it. Every pound you raise will help Evelina London do incredible things for sick children, young people and their families. Be part of our amazing family’.