A BRIDPORT couple are walking 90 miles to raise money for the hospital that saved their baby’s life.

Tim and Hannah Newman’s baby Rose was born at 25-weeks-old weighing two pounds, spending more than 10 weeks in an incubator in the nearest available Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

Mr Newman, assistant head gardener at Abbotsbury subtropical gardens, said he will be taking on a 90-mile walk with his wife, who works for the Health and Local Food for Families charity in Axminster to help the unit that looked after their daughter.

They will be walking in stages from Bridport next Saturday travelling along the South West coast path to Teignmouth, onto Dartmoor and across the moors to the unit in Plymouth on Friday March 27 – supported by Tim’s mum and his two step-sons, who will be bringing Rose along too.

The completion of the challenge will be a double celebration for the family as it is the same day Rose turns two, and the couple complete their final leg of the journey by carrying Rose into the ward.

Mr Newman said: “I spent three weeks at the hospital, and then when I went back to work I had to make the commute once a week from Bridport to Plymouth, and my wife has two sons too and they couldn’t be with us at the time, so it was difficult. It was a roller-coaster ride because you are just sticking it out in stages, there’s so much that goes on just to nurture and bring up a premature baby and you have to hope that everything will be alright at each stage.

He praised the efforts of the NICU team, saying: “The staff that were working at the ward were great, you were brought in and looked after as part of the team, we were informed all the time and went on ward rounds with the doctors and nurses.”

Plenty of other people are lending a helping hand on their journey too, with local hotels and bed and breakfast establishments providing free or discounted accommodation and Exmouth Marina’s harbour master offering them an out-of-season lift across the estuary.

Mr Newman said they have raised hundreds of pounds so far but would like to reach £1000by the time they set off on the walk, and he encouraged people to donate to the cause so the ward can continue to do its vital work.

He said: “You never know what’s going to happen and whether your baby will be born prematurely. The teams that work on these wards are always there and are ready to go, there are ambulances waiting to take mums and babies to special units – and if they hadn’t been so specialised we might not have been so lucky.”

“Even simple things like the blankets that cover the cots can cost a couple of hundred pounds, let alone the cost of the medical equipment, so it’s an important cause.”

Mr Newman extended the family’s thanks to all those who had helped out to ensure the challenge was a success.

To donate visit justgiving.com/Rose-Newman