“He is a smiley, healthy baby – a miracle, looking back to January,” said mum Sarah MacRae.
She was talking about her son Samuel, born 14 weeks premature and weighing less than 1lb, who spent the first 15 weeks of life in hospital.
Mrs MacRae said: “One month everything was fine, the next it was awful.”
Now the family want to repay those who helped Samuel through those early months.
On Saturday, October 23, dad Alistair MacRae will walk the 60-mile route between Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital – retracing the journey they took on the night of Samuel’s birth.
Mr MacRae, 37, is raising money for Support for the Sick Newborn and their Parents at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and Baby Unit Relatives and Parents Support at Stoke Mandeville.
The couple were in-spired to tell their story by seeing Oxford Mail articles about babies who had tough starts and pulled through.
Mrs MacRae, 35, said the stories gave them hope.
She added: “His birth was a complete surprise. I was rushed to hospital in the early hours of the morning and Samuel was born an hour later.”
Samuel suffered from patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and his heart valve would not close.
“After one heart operation, weeks of oxygen support and numerous blood transfusions, he came home to us in April.
“Today, he is a happy, lively nine-month-old who weighs 15lb.
“He received 15 weeks of dedicated care from the neonatal intensive care staff at both the hospitals, for which we cannot thank them enough.”
The charities provide the families with someone to talk to, as well as hospital equipment.
Mrs MacRae, of Chequers Lane, Fingest, near Henley, added: “Staff at both units looked after Samuel brilliantly, and also showed understanding and support to us during our time at both hospitals.
“We could call any time to check how he was doing.”
Mr MacRae predicts that his challenge will take him 24 hours and he will be joined by friends along the route.
He added: “When we needed the hospitals, they were there for us.
“But there was equipment missing, so we thought we would raise some money for that.”
To donate, visit mycharitypage.
com/samuel
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