Monty was born nine weeks prematurely at St. Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey, on 19 October, 2006, weighing just 2lbs. 1oz.  He was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for six weeks and his parents, Emma and Carl Elden-Ford believe the unit saved Monty’s life.

Said Emma, an art teacher at a local secondary school: “We can’t express our gratitude for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in words.  They guided us through what was a very traumatic time in our lives with compassion and sensitivity.  We believe that they saved our son’s life, and we are eternally grateful to all the staff concerned. We thought it would be appropriate to bring a gift to NICU the weekend Monty celebrates his 1st Birthday.”

Monty’s grandpa, Mick Ford, is the trainer of the Blue Falcons Gymnastics Display Team and when they heard about Monty’s successful fight for survival they decided to support the unit that supported him. Their efforts have netted £1,000 which was presented to the unit on Saturday. (20-10-07)

Said Mick Ford: “The team were touched by the incredible care and support that St. Peter’s Hospital gave to the Falcon’s youngest member, my grandson Monty, so they decided to donate a portion of the money raised in a 12-hour sponsored vault to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  There can be no teacher anywhere that is prouder of a group of youngsters than I am of those who make up the Blue Falcons.”

Monty, as honorary youngest team member, went with his parents to watch the 60 team members aged 11– 40 years completing 132,000 vaults in 12 hours. Each group vaulted for an average of 40 minutes before taking a break of between 20-40 minutes, and the team followed a strict rota to stay on target.

Said Mick: “Each vaulter found their own sponsors, and the team also had some major sponsors including Hornby, Toyota. For individuals to get their sponsor money the team had to do over 100,000 vaults in 12 hours.  The Falcons have, for many years, taken part in endurance vaulting for set periods of one hour, 12 hours and 24 hours and we are the current Guinness World Record holders for the most vaults in one hour, over a gymnastic buck.”

Receiving the £1,000 on behalf of NICU Sister Mandy Woodford said: “This is a very generous donation and we do send our thanks to all those involved in the sponsored vault.  We have exchanged the cheque for a tiny baby nappy, just four inches square, as it is very easy for people to forget just how small a baby was at birth.  Something for Mr Ford to show his grandson later!”

The money will be used to buy an oxygen saturation monitoring unit. These units are non-invasive. The  level of oxygen and ventilation in a baby’s blood can be gauged by wrapping a light-sensor round the baby’s foot.  The sensor then “reads” the level as the light passes through the skin from one side of the foot to the other.

The Blue Falcons train twice a week at the Chelmer Valley High School, Chelmsford.  The team has existed for 34 years and Mick Ford, 56, has been a teacher at the school for all of that time. Mick also took part in the vaulting at the end of April, alongside some of his ex-pupils. The sponsored vault also raised money for badly needed equipment and kit for the team, and, in addition to this for the Sunshine Children’s Ward at St. John's Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex. The Blue Falcons have performed all over the country, including at the Royal Tournament and on Blue Peter.