'Super nanny' Rose walks 100 miles around Ardboe airfield for charities

The Ardboe woman also raised more than £12,000 for two charities which helped save his life.

She completed the marathon walk by lapping the disused airfield near her home, which spans just over three miles in a complete circle.

Rose walked around the airfield 33 times in four days (October 22-25), walking for almost eight hours a day with short breaks in between laps.

She was fundraising for Our Lady’s Hospital Dublin and the Children’s Heartbeat Trust NI who have been instrumental in saving her grandson and helping him recover from Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).

Gemma and Barry Hutton from Cookstown found out that their son Barra, would be born with CHD whilst Gemma was pregnant.

The baby had a condition known as ‘Transposition of the Great Arteries’, and he would need his first major operation within 20 minutes of his birth.

Two days after he was born, he would need open heart surgery and other high-risk procedures during the first few weeks of his life.

The amazing team of surgeons, doctors, nurses and assistants at our Lady’s Hospital successfully completed Barra’s surgeries as they do for many newborn babies on a regular basis.

Barra spent a month recovering in Dublin and was later transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast for ongoing recovery treatment, where he will be looked after for the rest of his life.

Gemma said: “Thankfully, as we approach Barra’s first birthday, we can look back at Barra’s journey and be so truly grateful to have a healthy, happy, beautiful boy in our arms.

“Mum and I hope to raise awareness of CHD and also raise some funds to help the work of Our Lady’s Hospital and the Children’s Heartbeat Trust NI, who look after many families in similar positions.”

Both charities would like to extend a special thanks to Rose and Gemma’s family, friends and all the members of the local community who donated and supported Rose as she walked for this great cause.

---Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.