Matalan’s Christmas pyjamas campaign with Alder Hey Children's Hospital is a huge hit every year, raising much-needed funds for the hospital.
Starring in the campaign for the festive nightwear this year is a five month old baby from Bebington in Wirral.
Micah was born with a rare congenital condition called Hirschsprung’s disease which affects 1 in 5,000 children in the UK.
READ MORE: Matalan's Alder Hey family pyjamas 2021 are out now with Christmas design
The disease means that the nerves in Micah’s bowel didn’t fully develop while he was in the womb, leaving him with a section of his lower bowel that didn’t function.
Micah was left unable to feed, vomiting and had a swollen tummy with a nasty rash. At only 36 hours old, he was rushed to Alder Hey from Arrowe Park Hospital where Micha’s obstructed bowel was discovered.
Alder Hey’s team performed a procedure called an ileostomy where they fitted a stoma bag. Afterwards, Micha’s parents were able to witness Micah having his first feed since being born.
Now at five months’ old, Micah is doing well, but he’ll remain in Alder Hey’s care for the remainder of his childhood.
Micah’s mum, Kayleigh, said: “We are so delighted to be a part of this year’s Matalan campaign which raises much needed funds to help the wonderful care that Alder Hey provide and to know that the funds will contribute to building a new unit for Neonatal is amazing.
“They really give the best care for the little tiny babies and the comfort they provide for parents is outstanding in such difficult times.
“We are so grateful to each and every member of the team on Neo, to Miss Almond and her team and all the wonderful staff at Alder Hey Hospital. Thank you from the bottom of our heart.”
Meet the other children starring in Matalan and Alder Hey’s campaign:
Betty, 4, from Warrington
Betty is four years old. Since she was born prematurely at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, she has had several procedures at Alder Hey and had to be transferred between the two hospitals numerous times. A new NICU will help more families like Betty’s.
Sam, 1, from Audlem, Cheshire
Sam was born four months early and as a result, all of his major internal organs were underdeveloped. He suffered with very severe Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) and needed four lots of procedures to save his eyesight.
Oliver, 6, from Litherland
Oliver, aged six, entered a competition to help design the pyjamas and Matalan used the design to inspire this year’s product.
Get the top stories straight to you inbox by signing up to one of our free newsletters.
