On 8 October, I am running the Royal Parks Half Marathon to raise funds for First Touch, a fantastic charity supporting the neonatal unit at St George’s Hospital, in Tooting. 

The neonatal unit at St George’s cares for 600 newborns each year, who have been born prematurely or with other serious health conditions. 

In December 2021, our son Tomás was one of those babies. A few hours after birth, Tomás was diagnosed with two rare birth defects, oesophageal atresia and trachea-oesophageal fistula. Tomás was born without part of his oesophagus and with an abnormal connection between an existing part of the oesophagus and the trachea. He was unable to feed,  as the tube between mouth and stomach didn’t exist, and acids from the stomach could travel to his lungs due to the abnormal connection. He had life-changing surgery at 2 days old and spent his first weeks of life at the unit.

Thanks to the progress in neonatal care, he is now a thriving toddler.

First Touch supports the neonatal unit in various ways: it funds state-of-the-art equipment and specialist training which fall outside of the NHS budget, as well as a range of initiatives to support families and staff in such a difficult environment. I will never forget arriving to the unit on Christmas Day and finding a filled stocking near Tomás' cot!

Please join me in making a difference for other families in their time of need - your contribution fuels hope and healing!

Thank you.

Rita

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