Hi my name is Reeyan Ganatra and I am 9 years old. 

As many of you will be aware the timing of my entry into the world was a bit of a surprise. 

I was born on 11th Aug 2008, 11 weeks early weighing 2lbs 10oz (I should have been born at the beginning of Nov). To add to this, I was also born 282 miles away from home at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) where I spent the first 4 weeks of my life before being transferred by Ambulance to Bromley Special Care unit for another 4 weeks. 

I have been told by my parents that the first few weeks of my life was a bit of a challenge. I contracted a serious infection that the doctors struggled to treat. Luckily I made it through that and a number of other infections to survive. However, all this would not have been possible without the amazing care of the doctors and nurses at the Neonatal unit at the RLI. 

To mark my 10th Birthday in August my mum (who is not a great runner, I know this as we have been training together and I have lapped her a number of times) and I are going to run a 5K run in July to raise funds for the Neonatal unit at the RLI to say thank you for the amazing care and support they provided while I was there. My parents often speak about how grateful they are for everything the unit did including giving my parents a room on the unit only a few metres away from my incubator to stay for the whole 4 weeks. 

I would be grateful if you would kindly sponsor us in supporting this great cause, so that the RLI Neonatal unit can purchase more vital equipment to save the lives of other children like me. 

Thank you for your support.