By Michael Doran
When Bailey Goodwin was born at 26 weeks he weighed 702 grams and within two days needed major bowel surgery. He then spent the next 150 days in the neonatal intensive care unit at Monash Childrens Hospital.
On Sunday 28 October, the Seville schoolboy, will stride out as a thriving 7 year old to walk five kilometres around Albert Park Lake in the annual Walk for Prems.
“We were pretty lucky that our little boy got through this and the support we received got us through, even if took time for us to reach out and accept help,” said mum, Jade.
“After having Bailey it was like life was on autopilot. It was like watching a movie; it was surreal and not like it was happening to us.”
“When he was three months old and still in hospital I saw a poster for the Walk for Prems so we entered. It was so good to meet families who had experienced what we were going through.”
“We could see that there was a future where Bailey would be healthy and happy and that gave us so much hope. Now I can give that feeling to someone else and I want to do that.”
Bailey has seven siblings, so with parents Jade and Aaron, Team Goodwin has ten entrants in the walk. Jade said it is a really happy and fun atmosphere and that the kids really look forward to it.
“We get to catch up with other people who went through this with us and supported us. Even though we stay in touch on social media to see them in person is so uplifting,” she said.
Walk for Prems is a fundraising effort by charity, Life’s Little Treasures Foundation and is in its ninth year. This year’s target is to raise $300,000 from 12 locations around Australia, to add to the $1.4 million raised since 2010.
Details and registration are at www.walkforprems.org.au
