GRANDAD MAKES WINNING PUTT 

A golfing-mad grandad has got his fundraising down to a ‘tee’ after organising a charity golf day and raising over £3,700 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity.

This is the seventh golf day Mark Saxon, a Technical Print Manager, who lives in Llandrinio on the Wales/Shropshire border, has held for the charity in as many years. He was inspired to fundraise by his seven-year-old grandson, Noah, who has been treated at Birmingham Children’s Hospital for a number of complex conditions ever since he was born.

In November 2012, Noah was born by emergency C-section at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital after his mother Jodi experienced complications towards the end of her pregnancy. The doctors discovered Noah had a fatally low blood and platelet count. Platelets are a type of blood cell that are essential to clot the blood and prevent spontaneous bleeding but Noah had so few platelets that this resulted in a bleed on his brain. Noah’s body contained more amniotic fluid than blood and he required a full blood exchange, so for the first year of his life he was given daily blood transfusions. When he was well enough to be moved, Noah was transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where he continues to receive treatment for a number of associated conditions, undergoing annual bone marrow tests and genetics testing and most-recently underwent open-heart surgery.

Grandad, Mark, has been fundraising for the hospital’s charity ever since Noah’s birth, spurred on by Noah’s determination to get better and the amazing care he saw Noah receive when visiting him in hospital.  With the help of his good friend Roy, Mark made all the arrangements for the golf day, which took place at Stockport Golf club.  Every year the event gets bigger and this year, with a total of 20 teams in play, the golfers managed to raise over £3,700, bringing the team’s total fundraising figure for the past seven years to £12,255.

Mark said: “Noah has been through so much in his young life and even though he still struggles with his speech, sight and his hearing, he always picks himself up and keeps going. He even comes along to some of the golf days, which is lovely, and all of the golfers feel like they know him now.

“I’m so overwhelmed with the amount of support we’ve had for the golf days over the years and the amount of money we’ve managed to raise for the hospital.  After saving Noah’s life on more than one occasion, it’s the least we can do to say thank you to the hospital, and also try to help improve another child’s chances.”

Miranda Williams, Public Fundraising Manager at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “Noah’s golf day has turned into a fantastic annual fundraiser for our hospital and we’re so grateful for their on-going support. Who would have thought that after seven years, he would have raised such an incredible amount of money for our charity, which really will help us do more for the 90,000 sick kids we treat at our hospital every year.”