Worksop author's creative children's book raises £3,000 for babies in hospital

Richard Parker OBE, Chief Executive at DBTH, with Kelly, Willow and Mike Condon (centre) and two members of the Trust’s Special Care Baby Unit team.

‘The Boy Who Lost His Burp’ tells the story of Charlie, a little boy with a great talent for burping, who suddenly finds himself in a jam when a very strange thing happens.

Penned by graphic designer Mike Condon, the book is a way of saying ‘thank you’ to local clinicians for the care that he and wife, Kelly, received when their daughter, Willow, was born premature.

Born at just 33 weeks, Willow required assistance from Bassetlaw Hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) to help her breathe. Following a further three weeks of care and treatment, Mike and Kelly were finally able to take Willow home. Showing his appreciation, Mike, who is a senior graphic designer at Nottingham College, decided to put his considerable talents to use and created ‘The Boy Who Lost His Burp’, pledging to donate all profits from the book to the trust’s Doncaster and Bassetlaw Birth appeal.

Mike said: “I started writing and illustrating the book back in 2017 before Willow was born. When we found out Kelly was pregnant in 2018, the book was sat half-finished on my computer. I thought I’d get around to completing it at some point before Willow was a toddler so I could read it to her.

“When things took a twist and Willow arrived sooner than planned, my wife and I were talking about how grateful we were for everything and to those responsible for our daughter’s care. We wanted to show our thanks and at the time even joked that we’d toss a coin to see who’d do a marathon to raise funds.

“Together, we came up with the idea that I could finish the book and sell it, with proceeds from sales going towards the trust’s charity. It seemed a much more personal touch and there was quite a nice synergy to it - that a book for children could raise money for poorly children.

“The original plan was to get 250 copies printed to raise £1,000 – that quickly escalated and ended up being three print runs and a final total of £3,000.”

Richard Parker OBE, chief executive, said: “On behalf of everyone at the Trust, I want to thank Mike, Kelly and Willow for this kind donation. We are humbled that its author has chosen to donate all proceeds from the book.”