One grateful Darlaston family wanted to give a mountain of thanks to Walsall Manor Hospital’s Neonatal Unit staff – in more ways than one!

Joanne and Rob Marshall went to Snowdonia in Wales to climb to Aber Falls and raise money for the unit which cared for their youngest daughter Amelia-Rose who was born at 30 weeks weighing two pounds and seven ounces.

Their precious little girl had to go on oxygen and struggled to gain weight – at one point she was also feared to have sepsis. She was in the unit for six weeks and the family vowed to come back and show their appreciation.

“The staff here were just brilliant,” said Rob. “We can’t ever thank them enough for what they did for Amelia-Rose and how they also looked after us too. She is an IVF baby and so precious, as is her lovely big sister Chloe who’s ten. When your baby is poorly you can’t help but think the worst and the staff were our lifeline really.”

Dressed as Super Mario and Cruella De Vil

Joanne added: “Rob dressed as Super Mario and I was Cruella De Vil – there were 16 of us altogether for the climb. Unfortunately the weather was really bad but thanks to sponsors we raised £1,000 for the unit.

“As Rob says we’ll never forget the support we had when we were here. Just walking back into the unit to hand the money over brought back all the memories – it was so emotional. And it was lovely to see staff who cared for Amelia-Rose and show them how well she’s doing.”

Chloe and Amelia’s proud nan Hazel Moore works for Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust’s support services in the Emergency Department (ED).

She said: “I’d like to thank support services, ED, Electro-Biomedical Engineering and Skanska for sponsoring us.”

Georgie Westley, Walsall Healthcare’s Fundraising Manager, added: “It was lovely for our staff to catch up with the family and the money they’ve raised will help us buy additional reclining chairs for our neonatal unit expansion.”