Adventurer creates charity for children in hospital

An extreme adventurer known for fundraising is launching a charity to help sick children in hospital.

Also known as Adventureman, Jamie McDonald, 39, from Gloucester, hopes Ward Buddies will end emotional abandonment for children in hospitals by offering companionship and emotional support.

Launched following a six-month pilot at Birmingham Children's Hospital, the charity will provide 'buddies' when loved ones cannot be at children's bedsides.

Mr Donald said: "It's about making sure care of the heart is treated alongside care of the body for children during recovery."

Ward Buddies' medical experts, including paediatric doctors, nurses and a child psychologist, said unvisited children often become withdrawn, depressed and experience increasing behavioural issues over time.

They said some children also struggle to recover physically or to adjust back to normal life after discharge.

Mr Donald was in an out of hospital for the first nine years of his life with a debilitating immune deficiency and the potentially fatal spinal condition syringomyelia.

He said the inspiration for the charity came after discovering he had lasting feelings of abandonment from his own experience.

"No parent wants to leave their child alone in hospital but many are kept away due to work, distance, or caring for other siblings," said the father-of-three.

He said while "doctors and nurses do their best", they are "stretched thin" and as a result, children are "being left utterly alone in their hour of need".

He hopes Ward Buddies, which will include a small team of specialist staff such as a doctor, a peer support worker and an assistant psychologist, will be able to bridge the gap.

"We truly believe we can end this hidden crisis – but it's a long road ahead, and we'll need the nation's help to get there," he said.

Mr Donald is known for undergoing fundraising challenges, including a 14,000-mile (22,500km) cycle from Bangkok to Gloucester on a £50 second hand bike in 2012 and a 5,500-mile (8,850km) coast-to-coast run which saw him complete 210 marathons across the United States unsupported in 2019.

He also broke the Guinness World Record for the distance covered in a week on a treadmill.

"Let's show kids alone in hospitals that they are not forgotten, they are not alone, and we are ready and willing to do what we can to get them the emotional support they so desperately need," he added.

He is planning on a new fundraising challenge soon in aid of Ward Buddies but the details are yet to be announced.

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