Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

As many of you are aware our Son, Zac Edison Clarke was born on 26 July 2010 at 3.57pm at Leighton Hospital Crewe. After a text book pregnancy and excellent care, Zac’s introduction to the world did not go as well.

Zac was delivered by emergency C-Section as tests showed Zac was struggling for oxygen. When Zac was delivered he did not breathe for 8 Minutes and received CPR to revive him, fortunately his heart restarted and was put on life support in the Neonatal Unit at Leighton Hospital.

Zac later that day was transferred to Liverpool Women’s Special Care Baby Unit due to him being extremely sick as most of his organs had started to shut down. On arrival at Liverpool Zac was cooled in an incubator for 72 hours and sedated to hopefully prevent / reduce the risk of brain damage.

At my first meeting with the consultant he only gave Zac a 10% chance of survival and if he did survive, then we had to be prepared for potential brain damage. As you can imagine this rocked my world, as my wife, Louise, was in intensive care. Over the next 3 days Zac’s life laid in the balance and all the nurses and doctors worked tirelessly to keep him alive.

Zac’s infection became acute over the these first few days with a blood reading of 268, a normal reading is single figures and the consultant said that they become concerned when levels are above 10. So at 268 they had their work cut out!

Day 4 after the sedation had worn off and he had been warmed up after being cooled. It was make or break. Zac’s improvement over that next 24 hours was slow but after that day Zac’s speed of recovery shocked everyone and by day 19 we were taking him home.

We are now 22 months on and we have a gorgeous little boy who we dearly love, he walked at the age of 13 months and is now starting to string sentences together. We are so proud of him.

The reason for my fund raising is to give a little bit back to the two hospitals who saved the life of both my wife and my little boy. The two charities that I am raising money for are:

The one in eleven Appeal, to raise money for a new Neonatal unit at Leighton Hospital

The newborn appeal at Liverpool Women’s Hospital to continue to fund the exceptional neonatal unit and investment in new technology, Just like the new technology that saved Zac’s life.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank all the nurses, Doctors and Consultants at both Leighton and Liverpool Women’s Hospitals who through their hard work and dedication did an amazing job. Thank you so much.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.