AN event is set to take place in support of a neonatal unit which has supported the organisers and countless other families.

Reece Lloyd, of Tiptree, has organised a five kilometre sponsored walk and family fun day with the help of Colchester-based charity Wish Upon a Fairy and all proceeds will go towards the neonatal unit at Colchester Hospital.

Reece has a personal connection to the unit as it helped to care for his daughter Rosie who was born at 29 weeks.

He said: “When Rosie was born we spent seven weeks at the neonatal unit, the care and support we received was fantastic.

“We just wanted to fundraise for the hospital as much as possible to show how grateful we are for their help.”

Rosie’s birth was not straight forward at all as Reece’s fiancée Scarlett had the life-threatening condition pre-eclampsia.

She had to go to hospital for a few days and was told a Caesarian section was necessary to save both herself and Rosie.

Reece added: “When Rosie was born she weighed two pounds six ounces and after numerous injections, a collapsed lung and a few blood transfusions we were discharged after seven weeks.

“After seven weeks she still only weighed three pounds 10 ounces, now she’s three in nursery and doing a lot better.”

To thank the unit for their life saving care, Reece has organised an event at Lower Castle Park, Colchester.

The Wish Upon a Fairy charity is supporting the event and one of its co-founders Grace Lamb, of Clacton, also has a personal connection to the Colchester neonatal unit.

Grace’s daughter Louise was born prematurely at just 23 weeks in October 2018.

Louise weighed one pound and one ounce when she was born and spent more than four months at Colchester Hospital with her mother, she is now almost four and thriving.

The event is sponsored by businesses including Tendring-based estate agent Lamb and Co run by Grace’s brother Callum, Oakheart Eastate agents in Colchester, Little’Uns clothes store in Clacton and more.

It will take place on Sunday, May 29 from 10am to 4pm and costs £5 per family. For more information visit bit.ly/3NJJxwn.