A father eternally grateful to medics for looking after his baby boy when the youngster fell desperately ill is raising money for the department that cared for him.

Noah Bancroft was four months old when he first went to The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in December 2022 with bronchiolitis.

Now seven-month-old, he spent just over two weeks in intensive care.

His parents Nathan and Ellie Louise Walker, who live in Astley Bridge, told how they  were “constantly nervous” with what would happen, and at one point Ellie “wasn’t sure he would come home”.

When he first attended hospital, he was given bilevel positive airway pressure, and they were unsure whether he needed to stay in the ICU.

He got better ‘quite quickly’ and was home within five days, but within two and a half weeks, he was taken to A&E again, where he was treated in the ICU.

The Bolton News:

Noah wasn’t responding as well as they thought he would to previous treatment, and he was then put on a ventilator for more than two weeks.

Ellie added: “We actually didn’t think he was going to come home and thought he might not make it.

“He became ill in such a short space of time and we just thought the worst.

“The first time he went to hospital he got better quite quickly, but he deteriorated quite fast.”

Ellie said that it was particularly tough during Christmas, but that everyone was dancing, singing, and cheering on Noah, to make it “as good an experience as it could be”.

Noah is continuing to get better now he has been taken off the ventilator.

Ellie added: “He is on the mend now and has been to hospital since, but never got to ICU.

“It seems like it’s a more underlying than anything else.

The Bolton News:

“He is a happy little boy, laughing and joking again.”

Nathan says that the experience has been “extremely frightening” for the couple, and he is determined to do something to help the hospital.

He added: “The staff at the hospital have all helped me and Ellie as well as Noah, making sure we were fine and had somewhere to stay.

“I decided to do a run because it seems like a good way to raise money.”

Nathan previously ran for the Bolton United Harriers, and plays regularly for Bolton County Football Club, so is feeling ready for the 5K run in Salford at the end of April.

To help support Nathan raise money for the hospital’s intensive care unit click here (www.gofundme.com/f/manchester-royal-childrens-hospital).

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