Twins take on challenge for UHNM Charity in memory of sister Evie

Ten-year-old twins James and Holly Keeling have raised more than £1,000 for UHNM Charity in memory of their sister Evie.

James, Holly and Evie were born prematurely at 23 weeks and cared for on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Sadly, Evie passed away shortly after birth.

The duo known as ‘Jolly’ wanted to raise money for NICU on their milestone tenth birthday and decided to challenge each other to give up chocolate for one week and to complete 10,000 extra steps each day.

Their Mum, Laura, said: “Evie will always be a big part of our family, and it’s important for us to keep her memory alive. Each year we get our family and friends together to celebrate her birthday and this year felt fitting to mark the triplets turning double digits, so we wanted to do something special to mark Evie’s tenth birthday.

“There are not enough ways to say thank you to express our gratitude to the incredible consultants, doctors, nurses and healthcare staff who cared for Evie, James and Holly. They really are superheroes in disguise.  

“I’m so proud of James and Holly for achieving such a brilliant amount of money in Evie’s memory. UHNM charity will always be close to our hearts.”

James and Holly said: “We really enjoyed raising money in memory of our sister Evie. It was exciting waking up each morning to see how many donations we had. It was a tough challenge to give up chocolate in the school holidays, but it felt special handing over the cheque to the nurses who cared for us.

“We hope the money helps other families with poorly babies in the hospital. Thank you to everybody who donated.”

The family has now returned to NICU to present their cheque to the Neonatal team.

Laura Farnell, NICU Senior Sister, said: “We would like to say a big thank you to James and Holly for this amazing donation. The money that has been donated will help the unit and families so much.  It was so lovely to see the family again, and it was such a wonderful thing for them to do, to support the charity.”