The family of a baby boy rushed to hospital when he was two-weeks-old has raised thousands for Alder Hey Children's Hospital.
Fifteen years ago, Chris Acton's son Joe was born prematurely and spent several weeks at Ormskirk Hospital. But after returning home, at just two weeks old he was "unable to keep food down" and was rushed to Alder Hey hospital for surgery.
That is when Chris and his family discovered the Ronald McDonald House - a charity that provides a place to sleep, cook and retain some sense of normal life, a lifeline for families at a very stressful time. Despite only being supported for a short period of time, Chris was so moved by their care that he pledged to give back to them.
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Now, 15 years later - as Joe is "doing really well" - Chris has pledged his time to the charity. Having recently carried out a bike ride from Vietnam to Cambodia, Chris spent 10 gruelling days raising all he could for the cause close to his heart.
He told the ECHO: "My son was born prematurely at Ormskirk Hospital. We were able to take him home after a couple of weeks but within a day or two we realised he was ill so we rushed here (Alder Hey).
"We were given a room, even though we don't live too far, in Ormskirk, but we were made to feel so welcome. We were only here three days in total but I always said at some point I wanted to come back and help where I could. 15 years later, here I am."
Chris has so far raised more than £6,000 for the charity, but on top of that, the business owner at Greenbridge, provided craft activities and a buffet for guests to enjoy for the Decorate in December event on Thursday.
The ‘Decorate in December’ event, on Thursday, December 1, was one of 12 taking place simultaneously in Ronald McDonald Houses around the UK. The special annual occasion is an opportunity for all Houses, which provide free accommodation to families with a child in hospital, to ‘deck the halls’ on the same day.
Chris added: "The House was a godsend for us. I met people dealing with much more serious conditions than Joe and the peer support from other families was invaluable."
The dad added: "I wanted to do something to help others, we know how it feels to be here and anything we can do to make things better, to help people smile, help make them feel at home.
"It just means so much to the families and other children as well, siblings to poorly children, it gives them a place to go and brings Christmas to them so no-one is missing out."
Ronald McDonald House Charities UK is an independent Charity, which operates 14 Houses across England, Wales, and Scotland, providing free ‘home away from home’ accommodation. The Houses keep families together, close to their children in hospital. A Ronald McDonald House saves each family an average of £1,240 in out-of-pocket accommodation expenses.
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