Fathers 33-mile fundraising challenge for William Harvey and Pembury Hospital

By: Liane Castle lcastle@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 16:18, 07 October 2020

Updated: 16:27, 07 October 2020

A father who completed a 33-mile fundraising challenge for the hospitals that saved his baby son's life has raised more than £3,640.

Mark Batley walked for 11-hours following the route of his son Thomas’s first ambulance ride from Pembury Hospital in Tunbridge Wells , to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford after being born 14 weeks early.

The Batley family. Mum Justine, with baby Thomas, big brother Arthur and dad Mark

Setting off at 6am on September 26, Mr Bately accompanied by his brother Martin, 34, managed to avoid the downpours.

Only stopping for a 20 minute break, the duo made it to Ashford at 5.20pm with Mr Batley completing the last 400m stretch with baby Thomas in his arms.

The money will go towards East Kent Hospitals Charity’s Tiny Toes appeal, supporting the neonatal intensive care unit where Thomas was cared for.

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Mr Batley from Tonbridge said: “I always have good intentions but I don’t usually do anything with them.

“This is so big that we couldn’t just say thank you, so I wanted to raise a bit of money to give something back."

Mr Batley held baby Thomas in his arms for the last 400m

The tot weighed just 1lb 13oz when he was born on February 29, and spent three weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit in Ashford before he could be transferred back to Tunbridge Wells Hospital.

He was eventually discharged after almost three months in hospital and is now a happy and healthy eight month old.

Mr Batley said it had been a hugely worrying time for him and wife Justine, both 37.

He said: “We had no warning that Thomas would be born early – everything was just normal.

“Justine is a swimming teacher and she had been in the pool that day and when she got home she said she’d had some Braxton Hicks, or practice contractions."

Thomas was born 14-weeks early.

Medics at Pembury asked Mrs Batley to come in for monitoring and within the hour, her son was born.

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Mr Batley added: “There was a whole team of doctors and nurses at Tunbridge Wells Hospital looking after him from the moment he was born before he was transferred to the William Harvey Hospital, which is a specialist neonatal centre that cares for babies born as early as Thomas.

“I found it really hard to look at him to begin with because he looked like a piece of meat in a bag, but the staff were just fantastic.”

The couple made the journey from their home in Tonbridge to Ashford every day to see their son, even as the country began to lockdown.

Staff at both hospitals used video messaging to keep the couple informed about how their son was doing.

The Just Giving page is still open for donations here.