St Neots mother's New Life charity challenge after losing two babies

A MOTHER of two is running a half marathon in the hope of raising hundreds of pounds to help support a hospital unit that cares for sick babies.

Nikki Medd, internal accounts manager for Satelec UK based in Steel Close, Eaton Socon, is taking part in the St Neots Half Marathon on Sunday (November 15_.

She will be running in aid of The Hunts Post New Life Appeal, which is raising money for the Special Care Baby Unit and maternity unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon.

This will be the first time the 35-year-old of Vineyard Way in Buckden has run a marathon and she has already collected �220.

She said she wanted to support this "worthy" cause because of her own personal experiences at the hospital.

Mrs Medd, who has two daughters, Samantha, aged 10 and Louise, six, said: "I gave birth to a son in 1996 who died at 24 weeks and a daughter in 1997 who died at 25 weeks due to an incompetent cervix. They lived for a few hours in SCBU and the help and support I received was exceptional.

"A few years later I gave birth to my eldest daughter and again the maternity unit were great at ensuring they looked after me. I then gave birth to my youngest daughter at 29 weeks in 2002."

She added: "Louise was in SCBU for seven weeks and she came through all the hard times, of which there were many. If it had not been for the staff at the hospital I would have gone to pieces. Whilst I was visiting everyday I learnt the cost of the equipment that was keeping my daughter alive and I now truly appreciate how difficult it must be for them to fund it."

INFORMATION: To sponsor Nikki e-mail nikki.medd@googlemail.com. Anyone wanting to get involved with the New Life Appeal project should phone The Hunts Post on 01480 411481 and ask to speak to the newsroom or e-mail editor@huntspost.co.uk