'Life-saving, state-of-the-art ventilator' donated to bubs at Bathurst Base

Despite enormous efforts to save their lives, none of them survived.

"Henry lived for one hour, Evan lived for 10 days, and Jasper lived for 58 days," said the boys' mother, Sophie Smith.

Despite the tragedy of losing her three sons, Ms Smith and her late husband, Ash, were determined to have something good come from their lives.

"We wanted to make a difference to other families having premature babies," Ms Smith said.

Thus, the charity Running for Premature Babies was born.

Founded by the couple in the same year Henry, Jasper and Evan lost their lives, Ms Smith and her husband initially set out to run a half-marathon.

They had a goal of raising $20,000; enough for one humidicrib.

Since then, and since 2016, when Running for Premature Babies became an official organisation, the charity has raised more than nine million dollars.

These funds have provided life-saving neonatal equipment to hospitals all around Australia.

In 2022, the Bathurst Health Service was one of the hospitals that benefited greatly from a donation from Running for Premature Babies.

"The equipment that we donated in Bathurst, thanks to fundraising from Orange local Glenn Atkinson, was a specialised neonatal ventilator," Ms Smith said.

This ventilator helps to deliver oxygen to the lungs and reduces the workload of the heart for babies who are born sick or prematurely.

"Bathurst has a Special Care Nursery, and babies who are born very prematurely are transferred to Sydney or Canberra for neonatal intensive care," Ms Smith said.

Since the donation of the ventilator, it has helped to save the lives of countless children, including a premature baby born approximately one week after the donation.

"We donated this state-of-the-art neonatal ventilator, and the staff told us that within one week of the ventilator arriving, a baby was born unexpectedly at Bathurst and was in respiratory distress and needed to be ventilated," Ms Smith said.

"Because this new ventilator was there, it meant that this baby was able to be safely ventilated while he waited for the ambulance to arrive to take him to Sydney.

"As a result, this baby was fine. But if they hadn't had our ventilator, it could have been a very different story, so it's amazing how tangible and life-saving this equipment really is."

Equipment such as the ventilator in Bathurst, humidicribs, and other specialised neonatal appliances donated by the charity have helped save the lives of 10,000 babies across Australia.

But there's more work to be done.

Each year, there are 26,000 babies born prematurely across the country. That equates to around one in every ten babies born.

Without the work of charities such as Running for Premature Babies, the instances of survival in these cases would be much lower.

Thanks to the charity, however, the lives of thousands of families have been positively impacted.

This wouldn't be possible, however, without generous support across the country, particularly from those who have experienced a premature birth and their loved ones.

"It's a beautiful and very supportive community," Ms Smith said.

For those looking to get involved, Ms Smith said she would recommend that people checkout the website www.runningforprematurebabies.com.

She also recommended that people take part in the Premmie Marathon Challenge, which takes place in November as a virtual event.

Last year, the event raised $1.3 million, and Ms Smith hopes more funds can be raised in 2025.

Because of this, she can find comfort in knowing that something positive has come from the most tragic of circumstances.

"I'm so proud of Henry, Jasper and Evan, whose lives have inspired Running for Premature Babies," she said.

"Whenever I meet or learn about babies who have survived, thanks to equipment that's been donated by our charity, I feel so happy that my babies have been able to play a part."