A GRATEFUL family whose nephew and cousin spent four months on Bradford Royal Infirmary’s neonatal unit have completed walking the Leeds and Liverpool Canal towpath to raise vital funds for Bradford Hospitals’ Charity.

Marcia Pearson and her mum, Amy, from Eccleshill, completed the 127-mile trek last Saturday as a ‘thank you’ to the doctors and nurses for saving the life of Cameron Gooding-Brown, 12, who was born at just 24 weeks in 2008. Cameron is the son of Amy’s sister, Emma Gooding-Brown and her husband, Paul.

On their Just Giving page, they wrote: “WE’VE DONE IT! 127 and a quarter miles!!! The end of the canal. What an achievement. We’ve had good and bad days, it’s been an experience we’ll never forget.”

The pair have so far raised £527 towards their initial £500 target.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Cameron Gooding-Brown as a baby at BRI in 2008Cameron Gooding-Brown as a baby at BRI in 2008

The BIG Neonatal Appeal aims to create more parent bedrooms and better facilities for families visiting their babies in the neonatal unit which treats around 500 babies from across the region each year.

The Leeds and Liverpool, cross-Pennine canal is the longest in Britain, taking 46 years to complete. It crosses the Pennine watershed near to Barnoldswick where there is a link with the Pennine Way National Trail and takes in West and North Yorkshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.

Go to justgiving.com/fundraising/marcia-pearson1 to make a donation.