Great Saxham teenager reaches a £1,000 landmark with her fundraising

She started fundraising when she was 10 years old and now, eight years later, she’s reached a £1,000 landmark.

Dominque Johnson, 18, who lives in Great Saxham, was born prematurely at 27 weeks and weighed in at 1.14lbs. She spent two weeks in the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital before being transferred to the West Suffolk Hospital’s neonatal unit, in Bury St Edmunds, where she was cared for for three months.

Over the years along with her grandmother, who lives in Barrow, she has fundraised for the My WiSH charity, which supports the Bury hospital, by organising sponsored walks, a fun fair and cake sale and the latest event, a folk evening and raffle, at Barrow Village Hall, which raised £300.

“I was looked after so well at the West Suffolk that I wanted to try and help and pay them back for the care I received. It is something very close to my heart,” said Dominque, who is training to be an early years practitioner at the Green Wellie Educational Day Nursery, in Barrow, and is pictured above when she was born with her father Wayne.

The money has now been used to purchase a dual saturation monitor and she was invited into the hospital to see what her efforts had achieved.

It is used to check a baby’s blood oxygen level by wrapping a small probe around both wrists. This can give time critical information where a cardiac anomaly is suspected in a new-born baby.

Karen Ransom, neonatal ward manager, said: “We have wanted one of these machines for a while now and are so grateful for Dominque’s generous donation enabling us to buy one. This is such an important piece of equipment which could potentially save a baby’s life in the future.”