Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

First time dad Kyle couldn’t be happier with his ‘newest best friend’ 14-month-old Luka. Thankfully, the heartbreaking experience of seeing his premature newborn son desperately ill with Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC) is now in the past, and Father’s Day 2019 is one that Kyle, his wife Lucy and their beautiful son can enjoy together.

Our Luka is now 14 months old, yet this year will be my first Father’s Day experience. How so you might ask. Luka was born in Auckland, New Zealand, 10 weeks early, on 20March 2018. Father’s Day in the UK is on 16June, but in New Zealand it is the first of September. After Luka was born, my wife Lucy and I made a reasonably quick decision to move to Scotland, where Lucy is from, which would allow us to have her expansive base of family and friends around us. This was especially important as I worked away a lot. Living in Scotland would be vastly different to staying in New Zealand, where we had only been three years, and had only a small group of friends and no family at all. We moved in August, which meant I had just missed UK Father’s Day, and would leave before September the first, just missing out on NZ Father’s Day.

In all honesty, I had not given it any thought until writing this. Looking back, I do feel a little bit robbed of that opportunity, but I also take great satisfaction in knowing that I have many, many years of Father’s Days ahead to spend with my son and newest best friend. I can’t wait for every single one of them, and to see how each Father’s Day changes as he gets older, and what we might do together. Perhaps we will start out with this year at the park, playing and riding the swings, and as the years progress it might be football games and eventually a few beers over lunch.

My wife and I have both moved away from home at some point in our lives. Now we are back in Lucy’s home town, and I have moved further and further from the city I grew up in and where the rest of my family are. While I am okay with this, I dread the thought of my son moving away, albeit he is only 14 months old, it is still something that doesn’t sit well with me, and I know it will definitely not sit well with my wife.

I do however know that he will be well travelled (he already is for a 14 month old!), and by the time he is old enough to travel on his own, he will no doubt be jet setting, which is fine, as long as he always comes home. And with technology, the world is a smaller place, but it still wouldn’t be the same with him not there with us in person, and that makes me understand how my parents, and Lucy’s parents must have felt when we moved away, and when I eventually told them I was moving further away, permanently.

From these thoughts, I know that I have at least the next 18 years to spend as much time as possible with my son, and any other kids we might have for that matter; never take anything about him for granted; always be there for him; live for now (which I am slowly learning to do thanks to my amazing wife); cherish every moment; and never stop learning and trying to be a better dad.

I could not be happier with the gift my wife and I received in Luka. He is perfect and we couldn’t ask for anything more. He makes us laugh constantly. I never could have imagined what being a dad was like; the work involved, the heartache, the fun, the lack of sleep, the scares he has given us (and still gives me when he tries to eat too much food too fast!), and how rewarding it would be.

I wish I could say I wouldn’t change a thing, but the truth is I would. I would change the way Luka experienced his first 100 days of life after suffering from Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC). Luka came out that heartbreaking experience and rollercoaster of emotions with flying colours, which left us in even greater awe of him and his strength. We have Luka now in perfect health and I couldn’t be happier.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.

NEC is a significant cause of suffering and death in babies who are born too soon. Up to one in 20 babies in neonatal units develops this devastating condition - and sadly, many lose their lives.

With Action funding, Dr Darren Smith at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle is leading a team who are studying certain types of viruses within breast milk to understand their role in protecting babies from harm. This work could lead to new ways to improve care and treatment for these tiny babies, saving and improving lives.