Call Sign July 2010 - Page 24 - BRIAN’S WALK FOR MOLLY

   Dial-a-Cab drivers never cease to amaze us at Call Sign with what they will put themselves through in order to help a worthy cause. The latest in that long line is Brian Dixon (O12).
   It was 24 February 2009, Brian and wife Lyn were looking forward to their son Mark and daughter-in-law Lisa’s first child and the DaC driver’s first grandchild. The birth was due at the beginning of June, but that was still four months away and there were lots of other things that would fill up the time in between. But one person disagreed with all that as the baby – Molly – decided to leave the comfort of Lisa’s womb to see what the outside looked like! Arriving feet first, some 25 weeks premature, Molly weighed in at just 25 ounces. According to Brian, her head was the size of a Satsuma and her hands matched a normal sized thumbnail.
   Brian and Lyn were told and their emotions need no describing here, because the chances of their granddaughter’s survival were minuscule at best. Even specialist paediatricians, doctors and midwives at High Wycombe Hospital had to resort to a Tesco carrier bag to wrap tiny Molly in just to try and retain some heat! It was decided that Molly’s best chance would be at the Royal Berkshire Hospital’s famous Buscot Ward. This Reading hospital specialises in premature babies requiring intensive, high dependency or special care. Then the fight to save Molly would begin and for the next 13 weeks, little Molly was watched 24/7 by the dedicated team. There were 9 blood transfusions in addition to regular scans for most parts of her body including her brain.
   Mark and Lisa were there all the time as they watched for any signs of a miracle. They were allowed the occasional cuddle and to change Molly’s nappy – which according to Brian almost reached her neck! Speaking to Sunshine Magazine, Brian described Molly’s 13-week stay as being akin to a roller coaster ride – one day Molly was making progress, then that joy would come tumbling down when they were given bad news and they would again fear the worst. Just seeing their still-tiny granddaughter having to fight for her life was bad enough, but Brian and Lyn had to also watch the

BRIAN’S WALK FOR MOLLY

192 miles coast to coast!

Brian and Lyn with their now healthy granddaughter Molly

Molly the fighter arrived 25 weeks prematurely Photos courtesy Sunshine Magazine

distress that Lisa and Mark were going through.
   "It was just a nightmare," Brian told Call Sign, "we just prayed for them all every day while our lives were put on hold."
   But brave Molly was getting bigger and stronger and on the 25 May – 13 weeks after being admitted with what must have been just the merest chance of survival – Lisa and Mark were told that they could take their daughter home! Even then, she weighed just 3lbs but was incomparable to that little girl with the head the size of a Satsuma three months earlier. Not surprisingly, Brian described Molly as "our little miracle!" Six months on and Molly was heading towards the 10lb mark, eating and sleeping well and acting like a normal baby!
   It was then that Brian decided to try to say a special thank you to the amazing Buscot Ward for saving Molly’s life. So to raise funds for BIBS (Babies In Buscot Support), he decided to take a leaf from the late Alfred Wainwright MBE. In 1972, Wainwright devised the east-west Coast to Coast walk – later used in his guidebook – on foot! The 192-mile route goes through the north of England from St Bees in Cumbria to Yorkshire’s Robin Hood’s Bay, passing through the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors national parks. The scenery may be magnificent, but to walk it? It was a big project, but it was set up and on Tuesday 4 May Brian, Lyn, friends Andreas and his wife

Priscilla and Barney the dog set out from the St Bees beach, collecting a few pebbles to drop onto the Robin Hood beach and towards their first overnight stop in Borrowdale, ready for the second day which involved a 1000ft ascent. But that was nothing compared to day 3 when a planned 2000ft climb somehow went wrong through a mapping error and they found themselves doing another 2000ft climb when they should have been going down! As the planned route already involved scaling over 15 peaks between 1000ft and 2560ft along the way, they didn’t need any extras! But they gamely continued, facing all that nature could throw at them, until day 17 when the group finally reached Robin Hood’s Bay and ceremoniously discharged the stones from the beach at St Bees. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Barney hasn’t barked for a walk since!!!
So well done to all of the walkers. You can donate at www.justgiving.com/walk-formolly if you’d like to help Brian reach his target of Ł10,000 or alternatively you can send a cheque made payable to ‘Bibs’ and together with a completed gift aid form that allows them to generate even more funds by claiming a percentage of tax back for free to:
Walk For Molly, Clematis Cottage, 9 Whitehouse Close, Wooburn Moor, Bucks, HP10 0NU.
Gift aid forms are available at: www.bibs.org.uk/object-/form_gift_aid_reclaim.pdf.

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