Newbury family soccer match for sick children

£500 for life saving baby unit

A NEWBURY family and friends have organised a charity football match, raising £500 for the medical team which saved a little boy’s life.
Ronnie Pummell was just three weeks old when he was admitted to Southampton General Hospital’s paediatric intensive care unit with bronchiolitis, a serious respiratory tract infection, in both lungs.
Ronnie’s parents, Luke and Laura could only watch and hope as he spent five days undergoing intensive treatment and physiotherapy.
As his condition gradually improved, Ronnie was transferred to a children’s ward at North Hampshire Hospital, Basingstoke, before being allowed home a few weeks ago.
His aunt Vanessa Page, who works in the accounts department at the Newbury Weekly News, said: “We’re a very close family and so this hit us all rather hard. Now Ronnie is home, safe and well, my husband Mark thought about a charity match he held in 2013 in aid of Leukaemia and Lymphoma Resaearch.
“He managed to secure Hungerford Football Club’s ground again.
“The charity match took place on Saturday and collection buckets were handed around. We raised £500 for the The Friends of the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
“They are currently funded for 11 beds and treat more than 700 patients per year.
“Our aim is to raise awareness and appreciation of these amazing members of staff there and to give them a little something back for the amazing job they did with Ronnie, and continue to do with many other children.”