Thank you for visiting my sponsorship page. Action Medical Research is the leading UK-wide charity saving and changing children’s lives through medical research. 

My son Wilfred was born in March 2017 extremely prematurely at only 25 weeks old (15 weeks too early). He spent the next 4 months on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Hull having been transferred there a few hours after being born in York. He suffered a bleed on the brain after being born and as a result is affected by mild cerebral palsy. At 6 days old he developed the deadly bowel disease Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC) and needed lifesaving surgery to remove 25 cm's of his bowel. He had countless blood transfusions, two life threatening surgeries, numerous resuscitations and went through more in the first 4 months of his life than most people go through in their whole lives! 

The care we received in hospital was outstanding and we will forever be grateful to the Doctors, Surgeons and Nurses who cared for Wilfred during his time in hospital. They gave him the chance to grow into the amazing little 3 year old boy he has become today.

I am raising money for Children's charity Action Medical Research who are on a mission to save and change children's lives through medical research, developing treatments, vaccination and cures. 

“Action Medical Research helps fund vital research, some of which looks into the causes of premature birth and the complications that can arise from it. If we can help prevent other parents having to go through what we went through, then the challenge will be well worth it.”

Each year around 10,000 babies are born extremely prematurely – before 32 weeks of pregnancy – in the UK. Despite huge advances in neonatal care, estimates suggest up to 4,000 will develop the serious bowel disease NEC and/or a blood infection (known as sepsis) after birth.Action also funds studies to help children affected by the lifelong condition cerebral palsy, the most common serious physical disability in children, affecting more than 1,500 babies born in the UK each year. 

I am doing the Yorkshireman Triathlon (3.8km swim / 180km bike / 42.2km run) on 21st June at Newby Hall, Ripon. As part of the training for this I am also taking part in the Vyking Bike Ride for Action Medical Research on 19th April (101 miles in the North York Moors).

Wilfred, Edith, Imogen and I would all be so grateful for any sponsorship you are able to give. 

Please take a look at Wilfred's story on Actions website, we are so proud of his amazing achievements: 

https://action.org.uk/research/family-stories/wilfreds-story