Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust World Prematurity Day Fun Walk

It is time to dust off those sneakers and step up in support of the World Preemie Day Fun Walk taking place on Saturday 16 November at 07:00am for 08:00am. This is the second year the event will be held, after Tygerberg Hospital successfully hosted their inaugural World Preemie Day 5km Fun Walk on the hospital grounds last year.

This year the Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust is expanding on that success to offer walkers a full day of excitement. This fun walk aims to create awareness on behalf of 15 million premature babies, according to the World Health Organisation, that are born annually in the world. We are going to paint the town purple in solidarity of a cause that needs public support.

The hospital premises will be transformed into a hive of festivities for the whole family to enjoy, including a live music stage sponsored by MTN and hosted by Vicky Sampson, Gabi Le Roux and Nini Schechter’s foundation – Mzansi Many Roots One Tree production. There will also be kiddies entertainment, food stalls, lucky draw prizes and much more.

Premature birth is a serious worldwide health problem. The ones who survive often have lifelong health issues like cerebral palsy, vision and hearing loss and intellectual disabilities. A child’s health is most vulnerable during the first 1 000 days of its life. These first 1 000 days in a child’s development, starting from conception, moving through pregnancy, birth, and up to the first 2 years of life, are crucial for securing a child’s bright future.

Research indicates that both the physical and mental development of infants develops rapidly during the 1 000 days period, and the right care and nutrition during this window period helps to:

• develop their brains,
• fuel their physical growth,
• build up a strong immune system,
• improve their school readiness and educational achievement, and
• reduce their risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease later in life.

Tygerberg Hospital has the second largest baby unit in South Africa, after Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Gauteng and treats the largest number of babies weighing less than 1500 grams (800 per year).

Tygerberg Hospital is regarded as the first baby unit in Africa to:

• have administered lifesaving drugs into the lungs of preterm born babies
• have provided high frequency breathing assistance to critically ill babies
• begin offering a regular service of cooling down babies after birth-related complications

The Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust, which supports the approximately 44 000 annual child patients of Tygerberg Hospital, is celebrating World Prematurity Day by collaborating with the hospital, its nurses, staff and doctors on this event.

Many of the children at the hospital remain in care for lengthy periods of time. The Trust and its partners wish to give them an opportunity to simply have fun and celebrate the good work being done at Tygerberg Hospital.

Tickets can be booked and paid for online at www.howler.co.za or at a Howler payment outlet. The R150 entrance fee includes a T-shirt and a goodie bag for the first 500 entrants. Alternatively, entrants can pay a R50 entrance fee and opt to purchase branded merchandise on the day of the event. All race numbers will be entered for lucky draw prizes throughout the day.

In a separate event, the Mediclinic Panorama World Prematurity Day Fun Run takes place on Sunday, 17 November at 10:00am on the Meerendal Wine Estate, Vissershok Road, Durbanville. Entry fee for this race is R90 and can be done online at https://enter.entryninja.com/.  Proceeds of this event will be going to the Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust.

For more information follow the Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust on:
www.tygerbergchildren.org.za
Facebook: @THCTRUST
Twitter: @HospitalTrust
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tygerberg-hospital-children-s-trust

For media queries contact candice@headsupcomm.co.za or email contact@tygerbergchildren.org.za.