A Wolverhampton manufacturing company has helped two charity fundraisers take a leap into the unknown to support a specialist hospital unit which saved the life of an employee’s new born.
Cooper Coated Coil (CCC), which is a special producer of pre-painted metals, sponsored two daredevil co-workers’ freefall their way to success with a charity skydive in aid of the Wolverhampton Neonatal unit, at New Cross Hospital.
Lauren Caldwell and Rachael Mcadam carried out the breath-taking feat, on September 16, at Tilstock airfield in Shropshire.
CCC, which operates from the Planetary Industrial Estate – just around the corner from the hospital – pledged to fund their joint sponsorship target of £800. Lauren and Rachael managed to double this and raised a total of £1660.
The women work for one of Cooper’s supply partners, the Armitt Group in Liverpool, and were prompted into action when they heard about the plight of CCC’s sales account manager Stacey Wood.
She gave birth to her son, Liam, in April 2015, but he needed emergency resuscitation after being delivered by C-section. He was immediately transferred to the specialist unit which undertook a ‘controlled hypothermia process’ to prevent him suffering brain damage.
The baby was kept cool and slowly brought back to normal body temperature over 12 hours. He eventually left hospital 15 days later – fully fit and healthy – and Stacey has attempted to express her thanks ever since by raised funds for the unit.
“Liam is now a typically active little boy who is keeping his family on their toes,” said Kevin Tranter, managing director, of CCC. “As a specialist company, our employees are more than just colleagues. We are like a tight-knit family and try to support each other in our endeavours and aspirations.
“We are delighted that Lauren and Rachael felt so touched by Stacey and Liam’s story that they wanted to do something to help and it was right for us to help them meet their target.”
Said Lauren: “Rachael and I wanted to do something to highlight the work that this amazing neonatal unit does. We’re both a bit crazy so chose to do a skydive to raise some money so this unit can continue to help other babies and their families.”
