Kind-hearted Evan Christie has surpassed all expectations after raising more than £10,000 for the neonatal unit at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital.
Evan, 10, along with his loving family and friends, spent the best part of 2018 raising the amount – £1,000 for every birthday he had enjoyed.
Aberdeen miracle boy Evan hoping to raise £10,000 for new neonatal unit
The day before celebrating his 10th birthday on December 17, along with mum Jill, he proudly presented the neonatal unit with a cheque for an incredible £10,610.
Beauty therapist, Jill, 46, said: “What was really special was we presented the cheque to charge nurse Susan Swindon who was actually on shift the night Evan was born.
“I was a little shocked to see her but it was a lovely surprise and made it all the more special.”
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Although Evan, who attends Broomhill Primary School, looks like any other healthy lad his age, he was born 13 weeks premature and weighed just 1lb 10oz.
Measuring just 9in from head to toe, the first three months of his life were spent in an incubator.
“When he was delivered, he came out screaming and I knew then, deep in my heart, he was going to be OK,” said Jill, who lives in Mannofield.
Having spent his formative years knowing how well the neonatal took care of him as a baby, Jill and dad Graham were not too surprised when Evan announced his ambitions to raise the money, but first, Jill and Graham, 45, sat him down to explain the maths.
“He completely got it would be 10 lots of £1,000 and told me, ‘mum, I can do the maths’,” said Jill.
In April last year the Christie family set forth to raise the amount for the city’s new Baird Family Hospital – which is set to open in 2021 and will house maternity units and neonatal services.
Graham, a structural engineer with Cameron and Ross, held a golf tournament with work colleagues, while Evan’s grandmother and Jill’s mum Joyce Thomson, who lives in Turriff, held a bingo night, coffee morning and arranged Edna’s Night Oot in Turra.
Jill managed to raise £1,200 raffling off a Mulberry handbag, and even Evan’s schoolfriends pitched in and held a sponsored walk.
“Evan was so pleased to raise the money, and now we have, he is happy to leave it there,” said Jill. “My mum, on the other hand, plans to continue to raise as much money as possible going forward for the new hospital.”
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