Liam Baird, son of our 1980s cult hero Ian, is raising funds for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit inside Southampton Children's Hospital.
On New Years Eve 2015 Liam's partner Lorna gave birth to their first daughter Thea who was born with an extremely rare condition, Gastroschisis.
Please read Liam's story and it would be most appreciated if you would be kind enough to donate to his Just Giving page (by clicking the image below), as he runs 52 half marathons and one full marathon during 2021. You can follow his progress on Facebook and Instagram.
Liam's story: "My name is Liam Baird. I am 30 years of age. My partner and I Lorna have two crazy young girls and that’s what has sparked this quest !
My eldest daughter Thea who turned five on new years eve was born with a condition called Gastroschisis. This is extremely rare but basically means she was born with all of her bowls & intestines on the outside, (hard to imagine I know). She was discharged from Princess Anne’s Neo natal unit after three weeks.
We were excited to finally get her home and start our life as a family of three, but unfortunately after having her home for only two days Thea became very poorly at home. We rushed her back to hospital where she was admitted to PICU (paediatric intensive care unit) there she was induced into a coma, and was put on maximum support to keep her alive. We were told that night she may not make it through the night. Thea was fighting Spesis & pneumonia caused by late onset of group B STREP. She had to endure blood transfusions, a platelet transfusion, a lumbar puncture and much more, the doctors nurses and consultants who work in PICU saved our baby’s life.
The 10 days we spent on the PICU ward was a scary part of our lives and Thea’s, but the whole time we spent there we were assured and comforted by all the staff. They even accomodated our stay in the Ronald McDonald on site hotel which meant we were a stones throw away at all times from our little girl.
I am happy to report that she is now fit and healthy and in my biased opinion the most lovely young girl you would ever meet. So please find some spare change that’s hidden down the back of your sofa or that's fallen under your car seat and donate to the PICU department at SGH in Southampton. We can’t thank them enough. I hardly ever speak about this part of my life and if I do I only touch on the subject. I am not sure if its my age ‘turning the big 30’ or something I’m unaware of but doing this challenge Is very important to me.
So, the challenge is called the Elite 52! I have set myself out to complete 52 half marathons in the year 2021. This means one a week and the 13.1 miles I run has to be done in one hit. Oh, and I will complete the big 26.2 in the last week of December just to finish my legs off. My chosen day is normally going to be a Sunday morning but this may vary week to week. I have completed five full marathons over the last 18 months so I go into this challenge confident but the consistency of this I know will be the highlighted point. I must added I work as a scaffolder which is a strenuous career choice at the best of times.
Just to let you know, I might get moody Lorna. So here I go for the PICU ward." ?
Thea Baird.
Liam, with Ian.