Last November, two of my closest friends lost their 4 month old son, Jacob, to an extremely rare and aggressive brain tumour. Jacob was only 6 weeks old when they found out about his condition - after being treated for reflux, a doctor noticed that his eye did not close properly so booked him in for an ultrasound and subsequently an MRI. Despite an operation at 6 weeks old that removed 95% of the tumour, a few weeks later the cancer returned but could no longer be operated on.

After his operation, and during his last weeks, Jacob was cared for at Southampton Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). His parents stayed at the hospital with him, making every moment together precious and treasured. I went up to visit most nights, to help support my friends and also make Jacob shaped memories. I'm raising money for PICU, as in the short amount of time I was there, the facilities and staff were amazing. They were an invaluable support for my friends Kate and Andy, and they developed close bonds with them and Jacob - this helped immensely when it came to the awkward and downright horrible conversations that needed to be had.

Friends of PICU was set up to support the children treated in Southampton PICU, providing vital equipment and services on top of those provided by the statutory authorities. No patient passes through PICU without being helped by equipment and resources that has been purchased and donated by FoPICU. PICU's private ambulance, parent accommodation and additional nursing training, amongst other vital medical equipment, are all bought / maintained by funds raised by FoPICU.