Two young boys who owe their lives to the skill of staff at Derriford Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will be taking part in a charity Incubator Push later this month.
Six year olds Harry Hepburn and David Wade-Gibson were both born prematurely and spent time in the care of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Today the pair are best friends and both attend Whitleigh Primary School. They will be joined by around 20 other children and adults on July 27 on the 10 mile Incubator Push.
The walk aims to raise awareness and funds for the Keep Me Close charity, which helps with accommodation for parents of premature children in the NICU.
Harry’s mum Ellie, who will be taking part in the walk said:
“The aim of the charity is to raise enough money to build accommodation for parents who have babies on the unit.
“At the moment, there is very limited space for parents, and priority is given to the parents whose babies are very sick. Many parents face the daily agony of walking away and leaving their sick babies, and possibly travelling miles to get home.
“My youngest son, Harry, was born very prematurely six years ago, and spent over two months in the NICU at Derriford. I was very fortunate, in that I live in Plymouth, and only had to get the bus home. I can only imagine how awful it must be to get that dreaded phone call in the middle of the night, saying that you need to come to the hospital as soon as possible, but to be miles away.”
She said that she and many other parents who have been through the NICU ‘rollercoaster of a journey’ feel so passionately about supporting the Keep Me Close charity.
Ellie said:
“We will be leaving Derriford Hospital at around 8am on July 27, with an incubator, and pushing it all the way to the city centre and back again.
“We will have collection buckets for people to donate any loose change they may have, but this is also largely about raising awareness and not just funds.
“My boy Harry will be doing as much of the walk as he can manage but he has a chronic kidney condition, so it is unlikely he will do the whole walk. My four year old daughter Ivy will also be with us on the walk.”
David, who was on NICU at the same time as Harry will be doing the walk for the second year running.
Ellie added:
“Harry and David fought for their lives at the same time on the neonatal unit, they shared an ambulance to Bristol when they needed operations while on NICU, and they also started at the same school together. It is quite a remarkable friendship – NICU warriors then friends.
“The staff on NICU are amazing, they not only work miracles saving tiny lives, but they support the families of these special babies too. The NICU journey is life changing, and myself and many other parents try to show our gratitude by taking part in these events, to give a little back to the unit to which we owe so much,”
she said.
