Ben raises hundreds for Critical Care Unit

Ben Phillips from Bredon near Tewksbury has single-handedly raised hundreds of pounds for the Neuro Critical Care Unit (NCCU) at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham to thank staff for saving the life of his brother Alexander.

In November 2009, Alexander (Ali) was rushed to the unit after being involved in a car accident in Kinsham near Tewkesbury. It was not certain that he was going to survive as he suffered major head injuries in the crash.

After 10 days in critical care, most of which he spent in an induced coma, Ali (18) began to make an amazing recovery.

Ben was so impressed with the care his brother received that he single-handedly launched a fundraising campaign which has raised £302.95 for the ward’s fund within the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity.

Ben (13) organised fundraising events at Bredon Hill Middle School near Evesham and a quiz in which family, friends and his parents’ work colleagues participated.

Ben explains: “I spoke to my head teacher, who let me arrange some money-raising activities during the school day. I stood up in assembly to explain what I was going to do. I was allowed three 20-minute breaks over a two-week period, so I held a “guess how many sweets in a jar” competition, a “hoop the bottle” competition and a cake sale. I also made a quiz and sent it to my parents’ work for their colleagues to complete at 50p a go.”

The money Ben has raised will go towards purchasing monitoring equipment for the unit. Dee Cope, Clinical Nurse Manager, said: “We would like to thank Ben for all his hard work – the money will help us offer the very best care to other patients, just like Ali.”

Ali has now made a full recovery and is back at work and undertaking an apprenticeship in vehicle mechanics. The whole family, including brother Rich (20) and parents Jeremy and Ange, are really proud of Ben’s fundraising achievement. Jeremy said: “When Ben saw the superb care that Ali was receiving at the NCCU he began formulating his fundraising ideas straight away in the hospital. We are so proud of his efforts and will be forever grateful to the unit for saving Ali’s life”.