A County Durham dad is preparing to take on this year’s Great North Run in support of The Sick Children’s Trust, the charity that helped his family stay together while his baby son fought for his life in hospital.
Luke Wilson, from Darlington, will run the world’s biggest half marathon to raise funds for the charity that gave his family a free place to stay just minutes from Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) when his newborn son, Edward, became critically ill.
Edward and his twin sister, Edie, were born in March 2025, joining big brother Jude and completing the family’s long-awaited trio of children. But within days of coming home, Luke and wife Lucy became increasingly concerned about how hard Edward was working to breathe.
Initially reassured that his symptoms were likely to be excess mucus following a Caesarean birth, the couple trusted that things would improve. Instead, Edward’s condition rapidly deteriorated. Luke said:
“We knew something wasn’t right. He was working so hard to breathe and was becoming grey. We took him to A&E in Darlington and within seconds they rushed him into resuscitation. His oxygen levels had dropped dramatically, and he’d suffered a collapsed lung. It went from being told it was probably nothing serious to wondering whether we were going to lose him.”
Edward was transferred by emergency ambulance to the RVI in Newcastle, more than an hour from the family’s home in Darlington, where he spent the next ten days receiving specialist treatment. While Luke and Lucy focused on their seriously ill newborn, they also faced another heartbreaking challenge – caring for Edward’s twin sister and supporting their two-year-old son, Jude, who suddenly found his whole world turned upside down.
Luke said:
“Jude had gone from being an only child to becoming a big brother to twins, and then almost overnight his mum was gone because she had to stay with Edward in hospital. He was only two and couldn’t understand why everything had changed. He’d cry because he just wanted his mummy.”
With one parent constantly by Edward’s bedside and the other travelling back and forth between Darlington and Newcastle, the emotional and practical strain quickly became overwhelming.
A lifeline came when the family were offered a room at Crawford House, The Sick Children’s Trust’s ‘Home from Home’ next to the RVI. Luke said:
“It completely changed everything for us. It made an awful situation that little bit easier because we could all stay together. Crawford House became our base. One of us could stay with Edward while the other could spend time with Jude and Edie, giving Jude a little bit of normality during a really confusing time. It was only a few minutes from the hospital, so we were always close if Edward needed us. We genuinely don’t know how we’d have got through that without Crawford House.”
Luke says the ‘Home from Home’ also spared the family from exhausting daily journeys and expensive hotel bills at a time when they needed to focus entirely on Edward’s recovery.
“There was one journey that took us three hours because of traffic. Doing that every day with a toddler would have been incredibly difficult. Having somewhere close to the hospital made such a huge difference.”
Since then, Edward has been diagnosed with Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia, a rare lifelong genetic condition that affects the tiny hair-like structures that help clear mucus from the airways. Although he continues to require specialist care and has had further hospital admissions, Luke says the family are taking each day as it comes.
“He’s here, and we’re incredibly grateful for that”, said Luke.
“We’ll continue to support him every step of the way.”
Wanting to give something back to the charity that supported his family when they needed it most, Luke is now training for the Great North Run. Although recent hospital admissions and the summer heat have interrupted his preparations, he remains determined to cross the finish line for The Sick Children’s Trust and has raised £750 to date, smashing his £350 target. Luke said:
“I’ve done the Great North Run before, but after everything we’ve been through with Edward, I wanted this one to mean something. Running for The Sick Children’s Trust is my way of saying thank you.”
To learn more about Luke’s story or donate to his fundraising page, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/luke-wilson-2.
For more information about The Sick Children’s Trust and their ‘Homes from Home’, please visit sickchildrenstrust.org.
