A SIDMOUTH mum who is scared of heights will plummet 15,000ft from a plane to thank the intensive care team that saved her ‘miracle’ baby daughter’s life.
Emma Lee is set take on a charity skydive to raise cash for the neonatal unit that nurtured her first-born child, Lilly, and helped the tot beat the odds when she arrived three months prematurely.
Lilly, who weighed just 1lb 11oz and was so tiny she could be held in the palm of her dad’s hand when she was born, spent the first 12 weeks of her life in an incubator.
She is now a healthy four-year-old enjoying her first year of school – and Emma, 33, says it is all thanks to the unit at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
“I have no question that Lilly would not be here today without them,” Emma told the Herald. “There were a few times we thought she wasn’t going to make it. She is my little miracle.”
Emma, of Manstone Avenue, is gearing up for a sponsored parachute jump at Dunkeswell on May 26 to raise funds for the neonatal unit.
The bank cashier wants to raise money to ensure mums and dads continue to receive the same sterling standard of care and support she and her husband, Chris, did.
“I don’t like heights at all but I’ve got to do it - I owe them so much,” she said.
Emma, who works at the town’s branch of Santander, has set her sights on netting around £400.
“My husband did the jump last year and so now it is my turn!,” she said.
“I’m nervous but also excited and glad I’m doing it for the unit.
“It can’t be any scarier or more nerve-wracking than sitting in a neonatal unit with a premature baby.
“We’ve been through the worst of it.
“It was really hard at the time as my mum passed away from cancer when Lilly was eight weeks old.
“I was grateful they got to meet each other. It was very tough.
“Sidmouth was wonderful at the time. A lot of people know about Lilly - they call her ‘angel Lilly’.”
Santander will match whatever Emma raises. Her binman husband Chris raised £700 last year.
Lilly, who has since been joined by little brother Ethan, one, was given a clean bill of health at two-and-a-half.
She started at Sidmouth Primary School in September
Sponsor Emma at http://skydiveukltd.com/272-emma-lee-skydive.asp/.
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