A GRATEFUL family have donated £1,000 to the special care baby unit at Furness General Hospital after saving the life of their premature baby.

Hannah Miller gave birth to her daughter, Elsie, eight weeks early at Furness General Hospital.

The mum-of-two was taken to hospital in June with reduced movement and underwent a caesarean section.

It was hoped they could stay nearer their family home, but Elsie required more respiratory support, and spent two weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Preston Hospital, where Hannah and husband Nathan used the Bowland House facility, where relatives of patients can stay to be close by.

Elsie then spent three weeks back in Barrow, before returning home to her parents and brother Charlie.

After Elsie was cared for at Furness General Hospital and Royal Preston Hospital, a team of family and friends decided to raise funds for the hospital’s charity by canoeing the length of Coniston Water.

Elsie’s dad along with grandads Wayne Timmiss and Colin Miller, uncles Ben Timmiss and Kieran Miller and family friend Lewis Martin took on the challenge of paddling the lake to give back to the two hospitals.

The plan was to do it in inflatable kayaks, but the wet and windy weather ruled that out, so the group completed the mammoth effort in two borrowed two-man and two one-man kayaks, in around five hours in choppy and cold conditions in August.

Hannah said: “It has got to be the hardest and most challenging time of our lives, but Elsie received amazing care from all the staff in both Barrow and Preston.

“The boys completed canoe journey in difficult weather conditions, but they did amazingly well and we are all so proud of them and the amount we have managed to raise.”

And they were delighted with the amount they managed to raise - £2,200 in total, with £1,00 each going to NICU and the special care baby unit in Barrow, and £200 for Bowland House.

Bay Hospitals Charity funds the latest equipment for University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust to help make patients more comfortable and ensure they get the best possible care and treatment.

Head of Charities and Fundraising Suzanne Lofthouse said: “Well done to the entire team for this amazing effort and thank you for the fantastic donation to Barrow’s Special Care Baby Unit.

“It’s great to see Elsie is in such good health thanks to the amazing care offered by our NHS colleagues.”