8-year-old Georgia from Thatcham, Berkshire, is running every day from 1 December to 24 December to raise money for her little cousin who was born three months early.
Georgia and her mum have undertaken the running challenge to raise money for a charity that offers support for babies born premature or sick and their families.
The young girl from Thatcham was inspired to do this Christmas fundraiser after her younger cousin, Dylan, was born three months early in February this year.
Georgia has already raised more than £1,000 through her fundraising efforts, which will end with a 2km family walk on Christmas day.
Georgia’s mum, Louise, explained why Georgia wanted to do the run.“Dylan has been to hospital on three occasions because at 24 weeks, his lungs had only just developed. His immune system isn’t where it should be, but he’s doing good”.
“We’ve always been very open with Georgia. She’s always very excited about her cousin, but she understood that she wouldn’t be able to see him because of contamination”.
The 8-year-old said that she would make sure to run every day, no matter what the weather. Motivated by her little cousin, she sounded determined to complete the task. “We’re doing it every day and it doesn’t matter if it’s windy or I don’t feel like it”, she said. “My cousin was born premature. I haven’t seen him for a long time. The reason I am doing it is because he was very poorly at the time he was born”.
“December is the happy kind of month when you get together with your family. I thought if I did something good for my family, I would get more happiness” she added.
“I have done some running, but this is the first time I’m doing it for days and days. But I have this thing when I run, my heel hurts”.
“When I was putting my foot down, I was always ending up on my heel, but now I managed to do it on the middle part of my foot”.
Ever-improving chances for babies born early
A 2008 study looking at survival rates for a neonatal intensive care unit in London found that neonatal survival rates at 22 and 23 weeks gestation had improved over time. In 1981-85, no babies who were born at these gestational ages survived to discharge. However, by 1986-90, 19% did and this increased to 54% in the period 1996-2000.
In the decade to 2019 alone, the survival rate for extremely premature babies born at 23 weeks doubled, prompting new guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) that enables doctors to intervene to save premature babies from 22 weeks gestation. The previous clinical guidance, drafted in 2008, set the standard that babies who were born before 23 weeks gestation should not be resuscitated.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Well done to Georgia for undertaking this impressive challenge to help little babies like her cousin Dylan. We hope you have a well-deserved rest after the final bit of the challenge on Christmas day!”.
