A SOUTH Birmingham couple whose ten-month-old baby was saved last December and spent most of the month in hospital have teamed up with Morrisons in Rubery to collect presents for youngsters in Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Archie Grainger was rushed to the Alex after contracting severe bronchiolitis and chest and ear infections. At one point he turned blue and had to be taken to the high dependency unit and was put on a drip of fluids and antibiotics.
Dad John Grainger said at this point he and his wife Anita thought they had lost him.
“He was still in on Christmas Day where he was left three gifts overnight and in the morning he met Father Christmas and the Mayor of Redditch.”
The nurses told the couple people had donated presents for children spending Christmas Day in hospital.
“As a family this was a really hard time and we didn’t celebrate Christmas until Archie was discharged on the December 28 – our older children Josh, Hannah and Gracie refused to open their presents until he was home, saying however long it took they would wait.
“Archie now is full of life and non stop typical 22-month-old child but is still on the daily treatment set up by the hospital to help his chest.
“This year the children wanted to do something in return for the hospital by collecting toys and gifts to donate so they set up a Facebook page for friends and family to see.”
The gifts started flooding in and family friend, Jane Williams, the community champion at Morrisons in Rubery, heard about the drive.
She loved it so much she mentioned it to people manager Karen Markall and four weeks ago a collection was started among staff and customers.
As the Alexandra Hospital’s children’s ward is now closed, the family chose to donate the gifts to Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH).
BCH saved Jane’s son Ethan a decade ago and he has also gone on to become a typical ten-year-old who is full of energy.
On Monday (December 19), the presents were taken to Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s fund-raising hub and John and Anita also joined Jane and Karen when they dropped off presents to the Fisher House unit at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital which the supermarket also donated to.
Morrisons also invited the family to its restaurant for a Christmas meal to show its gratitude.
Jane said: “We feel blessed we will be able to put a smile on children’s faces at this time and are grateful we were given this opportunity to help.”
John added: “We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported the campaign – to all my wife’s hairdressing clients and family members who donated and to all customers and staff at Morrisons Rubery whom without these donations we couldn’t have made the difference we have made.”
