Darts exhibition raises over £4,300 for Exeter’s neonatal unit

Family members from Lewdown near Okehampton have raised more than £4,300 for the neonatal unit at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, as a thank you for the help and support they received from staff when their son was seriously ill.

Chris Back and Crystal Jordan spent 66 days on the neonatal intensive care unit with their son Jax who was born at 29 weeks’ gestation in December 2016. The couple, who have two other young children, were caught a little unprepared by the surprise early arrival of Jax, but were helped through the ordeal by the staff on the NNU.

With the help of Jax’s Godparent Simon Chudley, the couple came up with the idea of hosting a charity darts exhibition to raise money for the unit. In June this year they invited premier league darts player Kevin Painter, AKA ‘The Artist’, as their special guest at the event at Okehampton’s Charter Hall. It was a great success and thanks to the proceeds from the event and a charity raffle, a grand total of £4,310.87 was raised. The couple recently visited the NNU with Jax to hand over the cheque to Sister Sarah Backhouse and to find out more about how their donation will benefit other families on the unit.