On the 19th May 2024, our world changed forever, when our son, Blake Godsman was born 9 weeks premature with a condition called Oesophageal Atresia. This condition affects 1 in 3,500 births and meant Blake was born with an incorrectly formed oesophagus, which would prevent him from swallowing. Due to his condition and prematurity, Blake required to be immediately transferred to Simpson’s Neonatal Unit where he was put on a ventilator and placed into an incubator. All of this happened before we could even hold Blake (something which we couldn't do for days).

Blake went onto have multiple life changing surgeries, some with severe complications meaning we again couldn't hold him for 3 weeks until he recovered whilst in the care of the NICU. Not to mention the ever lasting trauma of spending weeks at Blake's bedside, listening to haunting alarms and beeps. Of which, we couldn't have got through without the support of the neonatal nurses and medical teams. After 125 days post birth, we finally got Blake home.

It is thanks to their expert medical care he received during his stay in the NICU, that we have our little boy today. Without Simpsons Special Care Babies, our lives today would be very different and unimaginable.

Prior to Blake's journey, we were completely naive that 1 in 7 babies in the UK are admitted to neonatal care, and the trauma that comes with that experience. There is no truer saying than that being a parent is one of the hardest jobs you will ever embark on, but even tougher when your baby is in the NICU. It is hard to imagine that the vast majority of NICU units in the UK, like SSCB, are predominately charity funded and what neonatal care would look like without charitable support.

This is why, we are committed to raise as much funds as we possibly can for Simpsons Special Care Babies. To ensure they can continue to support other families like us, who find themselves in these unimaginable circumstances. We are going to take on the challenge of cycling from Dumbarton on the West Coast of Scotland, to Aberfeldy, onwards to Granton-on-Spey and finishing in Aberdeen on the East Coast of Scotland, a total distance of 234 miles and 4,816m of elevation, including cycling over the Lecht ski slope.

We would be forever grateful for any donation to our cause and hope that together we can raise important funding to support Simpsons Special Care Babies.

Thank you for your support and continuing to be there for us.

Meghan, Paul and Blake x