A FAMILY fears they won’t be able to spend time with their son who has been in hospital for eight weeks after being born weighing five times less than an average newborn.

Jake and Chloe Banyard welcomed their son Vinnie at 24 weeks in October weighing only 600g (1.3lbs) - just over half a standard bag of sugar. 

He has spent the first eight weeks of his life receiving specialist care at the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge, where his doting parents have travelled every day to be by his side while also looking after Vinnie’s eight and six-year-old brothers and three-year-old sister at the family’s home in Highwoods, Colchester.

Vinnie is making improvements and is now breathing by himself with the help of a bilevel positive airway pressure machine (BPAP), a non-invasive form of ventilation.

Gazette: Precious - Vinnie is being looked after at the Rosie Hospital in CambridgePrecious - Vinnie is being looked after at the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge (Image: Jake Banyard)

Jake said: “Vinnie is now eight weeks old and has made some progress. He has come off the ventilator and he is now on BPAP.

“He is finally growing, which is brilliant, but we still have a long road ahead of us as his oxygen requirements are still very high.

“He’s still in intensive care as he’s still too unstable to be moved to high dependency.”

Friends, family, and even strangers rallied around the Banyards after Vinnie was born, with more than 100 people making donations on an online fundraising page set up by a family member.

Gazette: Family - Jake and Chloe Banyard also have two sons, eight and six, and a daughter, threeFamily - Jake and Chloe Banyard also have two sons, eight and six, and a daughter, three (Image: Jake Banyard)

More than £1,900 has been generously donated to support the young family so far.

But with a daily round trip of more than 100 miles and the mounting pressures of the cost-of-living crisis, Jake and Chloe, who have found themselves unable to return to their jobs as a bricklayer and a bartender, fear the time they spend with their son each day may be cut short.

“We are struggling financially to cope with the travel cost which is making it difficult for us to be able to come and see him,” the dad-of-four added.

“Every parent should be able to enjoy their precious first memories and it’s breaking our hearts that we won’t be able to come up here soon.”

To support the Banyards, visit gofund.me/3e3c2402.