A team of cyclists who braved scorching temperatures to cycle across Europe for our Special Care Baby unit at Calderdale Royal Hospital has handed over an astonishing £9000. (see photo in attachments)
CHFT radiologist Andy Cross and his pals Tom Nuttall, Morgan Sutcliffe and Riccardo Costa who work in Geneva covered the 590 miles from the city to Barcelona in five and a half days – powered by 15 litres of water a day to cope with non-stop temperatures of 40c.
The ride came about as thankyou from Andy and his wife Becky for the care their little son Jake received on the unit and his pals planned the route and spurred him on. Jake was born six weeks early by emergency caesarean section and was on a ventilator for three weeks in the intensive care section of the unit.
Andy said: “Baby Jake is doing great now, he’s a very smiley little lad and myself and my wife Becky are so grateful for the standard of care that he received whilst on SCBU. It was exceptional and the unit deserves every penny and a whole lot more!!”
The ride – made tougher by the extreme heat - was a real challenge for them all as they are relative novice road cyclists and they received huge support in social media.
Andy, said: “Some days we cycled for over 15 hours! We saw some amazing scenery but were very sore and only managed an average of 3-4 hours sleep before going hard at it again the next day.
“We were drinking upwards of 15 litres of water each per day as it was over 40 degrees at times. On the second day I was on the verge of collapse but the other lads kept me going, mainly by laughing at how pathetic I looked!”
The ride raised £6000 and this was topped up by £3000 from the League of Friends. The funds will buy two new Vapotherm high flow oxygen machines and will also fund a refurbishment to one of the rooms.
Shanaz Kahn helped to raise funds by selling 600 Crispy Creme doughuts in two hours at HRI and his colleague, Sarah Oakland baked non-stop for three days and raised about £300 in cake and cupcake sales within the Trust and it was a fantastic kickstart to their fundraising effort. The school where Andy’s pals work, the College du Leman in Geneva, contributed 50% of the funding.
Neo-natal manager, Wendy Kilner, told us: “This was an outstanding effort. We can’t say thanks enough both to Andy and the League of Friends. The machines will make such a difference to little babies born with breathing problems.”
Andy added: “The cycle was an amazing achievement, the distance covered in such a short space of time was insane! The way the event was supported by hundreds of people on social media really kept us going and we cannot thank people enough for their donations and encouragement.”