PREMATURE babies like tiny Marlu Tonon, who has spent his first 50 days in hospital, will benefit from next year’s City2City run and walk.
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Mum Sarah Tonon flew more than 3500 kilometres from her Yorke Island home between Queensland’s Cape York and Papua New Guinea to give birth.
Facing a rare pregnancy condition, vasa praevia, that can imperil mother or child, Mrs Tonon opted to have her boy on the Border near her Corowa mother.
Marlu, whose name is a Torres Strait islands word for deep blue water, was born nine weeks premature by Caesarean section on October 20.
Weighing 2.1 kilograms he was flown, hours after birth, to Melbourne for five days monitoring before returning to Wodonga hospital.
It was only on Thursday Marlu left the special care nursery for his mother’s ward and his hospital stay will end this weekend when he departs for his grandparents home at Corowa.
Now Mrs Tonon plans to enter the third City2City run-walk between Albury and Wodonga on February 19.
Funds raised will go towards the Wodonga maternity unit with its director Julie Wright saying much of the money would allow a new area for high care babies, such as Marlu, to be created.
An old sitting room off the special care nursery would be set-up for those babies to give them more privacy.
Other funds from an anticipated $100,000 would be used for enhancing maternity wards with day-night blinds and artwork, Ms Wright said.
Mrs Tonon, a teacher who will move to Weipa on Cape York in the new year to reunite with her school principal husband Dan, is looking forward to partaking in the 7.5-kilometre walk.
“It’s a good incentive to get into fitness,” she said.
Organisers hope entries will go close to 5000, after 4273 were involved this year and 3509 in the first running.
Ms Wright said with 28,000 babies born at Wodonga since 1998 she hoped the cause would boost numbers.
Next year’s event will have a 7.5-kilometre ‘walk and talk’ at 8.30am, with the 10-kilometre run at 8am and 7.5-kilometre run at 8.10am.
“It’s designed to cater for those people who want to join the fun, celebrations and fundraising but who aren’t chasing their personal best,” naming-rights sponsor Hume Bank chief executive David Marshall said.
Entries can be lodged via www.city2city.org.au.