Dedicated parents raise thousands in memory of son

A Norfolk couple has raised thousands of pounds in memory of their baby son.

Harrison Alexander Nicholl was born on 5th February 2010 and spent four days on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) before he passed away on 8th February 2010.
Since then his parents Claire and Simon Nicholl have been fundraising for NICU and for the East Anglian Children’s Hospice who supported them after Harrison’s death. Each year they organise a sponsored walk in his memory. The first one was more than 47 miles long. With the support of family and friends the annual walks have now raised more than £19,870 for EACH and the NICU fund, which is part of the NNUH charity. Money was also raised from Table Top Sales and from Harrison’s Funeral, taking the total raised in his memory to £20,673.
Claire and Simon’s dedicated fundraising efforts mean that NICU has been able to purchase a portable ventilator which will help other families spend time with their babies privately at the end of life. The ventilator cost more than £6,000.
Claire said: “Before Harrison died we spent time with him in a private room away from other families and babies on NICU. After Harrison’s death, we wanted to do something for the unit. We decided to fund a portable ventilator so that other parents can spend as long as possible with their baby privately away from the ward, at the end of life.”
Dr Rahul Roy, Consultant Neonatologist who cared for Harrison said: “I am so humbled to see Claire and Simon’s dedication towards fundraising in memory of Harrison. Their considerable donations have helped us to purchase a portable ventilator to support end of life care. In addition to the portable ventilator, the funds raised by Harrison’s parents have also contributed towards buying a dedicated ECG machine for the neonatal and paediatric department.”
Louise Cook, Fundraising Manager at NNUH, said: “We really appreciate the continued support of Claire and Simon and their friends and family. It means so much to us that families remember the care they were given and their donations enable the hospital charity to make a real difference to other patients.”
Claire and Simon continue to fundraise for the unit and are organising a Charity Ball for February 2015. Money raised will be used to purchase Pulse Oximetry monitors which will help to screen all asymptomatic new born babies at NNUH for cyanotic congenital heart disease. For further information about the fund raising events visit:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/HarrisonANicholl or email Claire.Nicholl77@hotmail.com