An eight-year-old boy has raised more than £1,000 for a charity that helped his family when his new-born sister Ellie required six weeks of life-saving treatment.
Archie Colman, from Diss, completed the Norwich Inflatable 5K run on October 19 and raised £1,295 to thank The Sick Children's Trust, which provided free accommodation when his stepmother Jessica Colman was rushed to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury.
Mrs Colman was 36 weeks pregnant when she noticed her baby had stopped kicking. The 27-year-old underwent an emergency grade one caesarean minutes after doctors checked the baby's heart rate.
In the following 27 minutes, baby Ellie suffered from perinatal asphyxia and doctors battled to establish an airway. Once breathing, Ellie was immediately transferred to The Rosie Hospital in Cambridge for lifesaving treatment. She underwent 72 hours of specialist cooling therapy to reduce the risk of brain damage.
While waiting for Ellie to get better, the family was given free Home from Home accommodation at Chestnut House run by The Sick Children's Trust.
Mrs Colman, who was later transferred from West Suffolk Hospital to Addenbrooke's Hospital, said: 'As Steve and Ellie left for Cambridge, I had to deal with the horrible reality that I might not see my daughter again all on my own. The doctors thought it was unlikely that Ellie would survive two days.
'I don't know how we would have coped if we hadn't been supported by The Sick Children's Trust. I could not have travelled for two hours each day in a car, I could barely move and was in a wheelchair.
'Archie found this time very difficult as he was only six. We spent the whole six weeks that Ellie was being treated by her side in hospital, which is no place for a little boy. Having a 'Home from Home' at Chestnut House, where there was a kitchen, dining and living room was so important as it meant Archie could see us without having to be on the hospital ward and we could even make him something to eat and watch telly together.
'Ellie is now thriving and enjoyed cheering Archie on in her Sick Children's Trust t-shirt!'
To sponsor Archie visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jessica-colman27
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