A BOLTON police officer and her partner have praised the ‘invaluable’ service provided by the charity that gave them a place to stay in hospital while their son recovered from open heart surgery.

Five-year-old Barney Cadden-Clarke is the son of DS Lisa Clarke, an officer in Bolton police’s Child Sexual Exploitation Unit. In January this year he needed open heart surgery at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool.

DS Clarke said: “Barney has learning difficulties which we found out when he was about 10 months old. As a part of that, I think a lot of kids with learning difficulties have heart conditions.

“He had to go back for open heart surgery in January. He was in Alder Hey for a week.”

Following the surgery, DS Clarke and her partner, Bury DCI Charlotte Cadden, were given a room at Alder Hey’s Ronald McDonald House, a facility that provides free accommodation for parents and carers of children being treated at the hospital.

DS Clarke, said: “They were just fantastic. The staff were amazing. As we live in Bolton it is hard to get to and we are both in work.

“The staff were just amazing. The service is invaluable. There are people who are in there who we talked to who have been in there for weeks and weeks.”

Barney is now back on his feet but the family wanted to give back to the house.

Due to Barney’s condition they have spent a lot of time in hospital in Bolton and abroad while on holiday.

DS Clarke, aged 44, said: “He is now five, and over those five years we’ve been in hospital numerous times.

“We know what it is like to go into hospital. The number of nights we have spent in one of those reclining chairs at the side of our child’s bed, it is so uncomfortable.

“Having a room is just invaluable. It means that one of you can go to bed.”

DS Clarke will now be tackling the Manchester Half-Marathon to raise money for Ronald McDonald House.

She said: “I got into running properly last year. I do the fitness test for the police and I have always been able to do that.

“I never really ran long distances. I got into it for the stress relief really because we have got two children.”

She has joined a running group and has been hard at work preparing for the event which is now just over a week away.

Ronald McDonald House needs £600,000 per year from running costs and this raised completely by voluntary contributions.

DS Clarke has already managed to raise more than £500 and hopes to raise more by the time the event comes around.

The Manchester Half-Marathon is on Sunday, October 15.

To donate to DS Clarke’s fundraising efforts go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lisa-clarke38