Staff within the neonatal unit at University Hospital Wishaw (UHW) were delighted to receive a donation of more than £5,000 from the parents of one of their patients.
Alfie was born at 27 weeks last November. Weighing only 1lb 6oz, he spent 139 days in the unit and during that time little Alfie’s lungs collapsed numerous times, he suffered respiratory arrest and had to have seven blood transfusions. But the ‘little warrior’ continued to fight and mum, Monica and dad, Gary, wanted to show their gratitude to the staff in the unit for everything they did to save Alfie’s life more times than they can count.
Alfie is now home with mum and dad and is going from strength to strength thanks to the excellent care received in the unit, and as a thank you a family friend, Andrew Docherty, who is also a nurse, ran 48 miles in 48 hours across Glasgow to raise the money.
Monica visited the unit recently to hand over the donation to staff who helped care for Alfie during his time in the unit. She said: “There is no gift or gesture that can ever convey our thanks for what the team has done for our family – but knowing that little babies, just like Alfie, are going to benefit from this money raised for some time to come really means the world to us.”
Kate Boyle, Senior Midwife – Neonatal and Transitional Care at UHW, added: “We are so grateful to the Sheen family and their friend Andrew for raising this amazing sum of money. This will go a long way to supporting other babies and families requiring neonatal care in Lanarkshire.
“Alfie was on a lifesaving ventilator for quite some time, and Monica is keen we use the money towards the purchase of a video laryngyscope which is a fantastic piece of equipment to aid in intubation and also in the teaching of intubation techniques.
“Alfie really is a superstar and had a starring role in the latest series of BBC1 show Tiny Lives. It was a joy for us to see Alfie back visiting us with his mum.”
Alfie was one of the remarkable babies feature in series 2 of the BBC documentary series ‘Tiny Lives’.
