Now DJ Tony Horne’s got a cause to run for

Sep 13 2009 by Kim Carmichael, Sunday Sun

POPULAR North DJ Tony Horne has told of the terrifying moment he thought his wife and child were about to die.

Tony was enjoying a family break in Windermere in Cumbria in March when his pregnant wife Natalie awoke in the middle of the night to find she was bleeding heavily.

Natalie hadn’t been due to give birth to their third child until two months later, so Tony famed for his popular Metro Radio breakfast show, frantically called for an ambulance.

At Lancaster Royal Infirmary Natalie miraculously gave birth to Poppy Greta two hours later, weighing just 3lbs 12oz, before being whisked off to the hospital’s special care baby unit for life-saving treatment.

Within a month, both mother and baby had recovered from their critical condition and were ready to return to the region.

Tony, 36, also father to Molly, eight, and Sam, five, said: “We woke up in the night with my wife covered in blood. I rang an ambulance and they took us to Lancaster Hospital, around 40 minutes away.

“Poppy was born eight weeks early at 3.46am. We saw her for about five minutes, then she had to be rushed off.

“My wife lost 10 units of blood and was in hospital for two weeks after that.

“You just shut down in a situation like that and only think about whatever you’re faced with at that moment.

“I know it sounds a bit of a cliche, but the NHS was tremendous.

“We owe much of this miracle to the staff at the Royal Infirmary in Lancaster, especially the amazing team in the special care baby unit.”

Tony has now pledged to raise as much cash as possible for the hospital that helped the family when they needed it most and will take part in this year’s Bupa Great North Run as the first step in his fundraising challenge.

He said: “This is my sixth time doing the run and I’ve never raised money for anyone before because I’d never had the sort of experience that would move me to support any particular charity.

“But I now understand how people can be so motivated and passionate about a cause.

“When Poppy was born, we didn’t have any clothes with us for her as we obviously weren’t expecting her.

“They put a little hat on her and I realised that all these things have to be paid for and that’s what I want to help with.

“I’m so grateful to the hospital. It will be an ongoing thing and I’ll do every run to raise money for them from now on.”

To support Tony Horne, visit www.justgiving.com/tonyhorne.