Dan’s 3K Fun Run

On the 5th April family and friends completed the 3K Fun at Rother Valley country park in memory of Ben.

Four generations of Newtons:

Reginald Bottom, Roger Newton, Linda Newton, Richard Newton, Fiona Newton, Thomas Newton and Grace Newton.

Four generations of Newtons

Friends:

Liz Bough, Barry Bough, James Bough, Katie Bough, Paul and Sue Dunn.

Our older brother Richard, through his role as a governor for the Childrens Hospital worked with the charity to raise the profile of the run. The story was run in the Sheffield Telegraph and on the charities website.

Four generations fundraise in memory of Benjamin

The short life of little Benjamin Newton will be remembered by four generations of his family this spring when they take part in our annual 3k fun run on Sunday 5 April 2009.

Seven members of the Newton family, whose ages range from eight weeks to 92- years-old, have decided that they want to give something back to The Children’s Hospital, where staff made every effort to save Benjamin’s life.

Benjamin, whose parents Dan and Kerry Newton live in Crookes in Sheffield, was born in the Jessop Wing on 22 January 2009, but died suddenly on 11 February 2009 in The Children’s Hospital.

Richard Newton, who is a governor at The Children’s Hospital and is Dan’s brother and Benjamin’s uncle, said: “We are extremely grateful to The Children’s Hospital for the excellent care they gave Benjamin. My brother and my parents witnessed the non-stop efforts to save his life and the warmth and understanding exhibited by the staff following his death. As a family we decided that such efforts should not go unrewarded.

“Through the fun run we want to support the work of the hospital so that they can carry on helping other children and their families. We also wanted to do something special to remember Benjamin and show our support for Dan and Kerry.”

He added: “As a father I have personally experienced the excellent care given by staff at The Children’s Hospital. My son Thomas was born 13 weeks premature and spent 102 days at the Jessop Wing and was then under the care of The Children’s Hospital for home oxygen. Thomas is now a lively three-year-old who will be taking part in the fun run himself.”

The Newton family members taking part in the 3k fun run include: Richard Newton (32) from Stannington in Sheffield; Roger Newton (63) and Linda Newton (61) who are Richard and Dan’s parents and live in Dronfield; Reg Bottom (92) who is Richard and Dan’s grandfather and lives in Beauchief in Sheffield; Fiona Newton(32), Richard’s wife; Thomas Newton(3) Richard’s son and Grace Newton(8 Weeks)Richard’s daughter, who all live in Stannington.

Both Reg and Grace will get a little help getting around the course. Reg will be in his wheelchair and Grace will be in her pushchair. The rest of the family will all be lacing up their trainers for the run though.

We are very grateful for the efforts made. The group have rallied round to raise funds for the Childrens Hospital Charity, with all the money being put through the Just Giving webpage in memory of Ben (www.justgiving.com/benjaminnewton). Money is still being collected but it looks as though the total will exceed £1,000, which is a fantastic effort by all involved.

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You’re currently reading “Dan’s 3K Fun Run,” an entry on Remembering Benjamin Blog

Published:: April 28, 2009 / 4:23 pm

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About

Welcome

Thankyou for visiting; and welcome to our blog to account the fundraising our friends and family are supporting us with, in memory of our brilliant boy Benjamin.

We welcomed our boy to the world on the 22nd January 2009. For the twenty days that we shared with him, we poured our heart and soul into bringing him happiness. His eyes melted our hearts, his smell infused our souls and his future gave us the licence to dream the happiest of dreams.

On the 11th February our boy left us. We held him while he drew his final breath before he went to sleep in our souls.

The cause of death was ‘brain damage’ as a result of ‘pneumonia’, explained by the notion that he picked up an infection 24-48 hours before he died which he didn’t have the immunity to deal with.

Following the inquest in to his death we are comfortable in the knowledge that the facts surrounding his life and death have been reported truthfully and the relevent procedures and investigations that follow a sudden infant death were properly conducted.

Raising Money

We are raising money for the Children’s Hospital Charity; the charity exists to support and enhance the services of Sheffield Children’s NHS Trust and it’s reputation as a centre of excellence for the research, prevention, care and cure of childhood illnesses.

We would like to pay tribute to the efforts and expertise of the staff at the Sheffield Children’s Hospital. The care that was co-ordinated by Dr Cliff Bevan was of the highest order; he is a highly skilled consultant but most importantly a wonderful human being who spoke to our family with honesty, clarity and dignity. He was supported by a highly efficient crash team and a fantastic team of nurses; Caroline McCaffrey, George Coldwell, Lindsey Walsh, John Preston and Sandra Cole.

The hospital have continued to support us in the weeks and months that have followed Ben’s death. Notably Dr Bevan and bereavement co-ordinator Sheila McGovern.

It is important to us that the money raised, is directed to relevant projects to improve the methods of practice used on Benjamin and assist the hospital in giving every child every possibility of overcoming their illness and living a happy healthy life. Though we know that there is nothing that would have saved Ben, the projects we have chosen to support, we believe will directly contribute to the hospitals ability to treat patients effectively and also save lives.

It is also important to us that the funds raised are directed to provide additional services to the core ones provided by the £80 million annual contribution by the NHS. Supporting the charity means we are backing the hospitals surgeons, consultants and clinicians with pioneering ideas and equipment to help keep the hospital at the forefront of paediatric excellence.

The projects that we have decided to support are:

Baby Simulator

‘SimBaby’ is a ‘high-level patient simulator’, which includes a whole body baby mannequin. The mannequin, which has a realistic anatomy, drives mechanical and computer software allowing very sophisticated modeling of cardiovascular & respiratory systems. It can be programmed with a certain illness or condition so that they can practice dealing with that emergency situation.

Simbaby

The ‘crisis scenario’ in which Ben arrived at the hospital can be replicated through the baby simulator and will allow the critical care team to practice ‘the most difficult things that they have to do’.

The cost of ‘Simbaby’ is £33,000 and half of the funds raised in Ben’s memory will be directed to purchasing one for the Sheffield Children’s Hospital. The NHS contribution could never stretch to such cutting edge and advanced technology.

Intensive Care Unit

The charity have ring fenced funds for each ward and department, this allows the staff working on each ward to spend their fund at their discretion, as and when needed.

The majority of the care that Ben received on the 11th February was in the hospitals intensive care unit. Ensuring ICU have the best equipment will ensure that they are the best they can be and every patient has the best chance.

Each year all the wards in the hospital have a wish list of their wards needs. The other half of the funds raised in memory of Ben will contribute to the 2009-2010 budget ICU have for additional services and equipment.

Love and Life Forever

Kerry and Dan Newton

Remembering Benjamin Blog

Dan’s 3K Fun Run

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