A CARING couple have raised thousands of pounds for the hospital unit where their son died.

Peter and Christine Kennerley have raised £160,000 for the Intensive Care Unit at Leighton Hospital in the last 12 years.

The couple's son Darron was a patient at the unit but he died from severe injuries after a fall.

His parents created the Darron Kennerley Trust to raise money for vital medical equipment and have held numerous dances, raffles and entertainment events.

The most recent donation has been £4,000 towards the cost of an additional haemofiltration machine for critically ill patients.

The machine takes on the role of the kidneys, filtering waste products from the blood and removing excess fluid which could not be passed.

Sian Axon, a senior ICU sister, said: "Peter and Christine have done tremendous work for the Unit.

"They have given their time and efforts generously, without reward and have also become our friends.

"The equipment they have funded has been vital in the care and treatment of numerous intensive care patients. On behalf of them, we want to say a big thank you for the help and support they have given over the years."

Money has been used to buy a life support machine, a pulse oximeter to measure oxygen and pulse rate and a central monitor unit to allow nursing staff to see the vital signs of all patients at the same time.

"We were very happy with the way people were looked after," said Mrs Kennerley.

"We never left the hospital for three days and they were just brilliant with us. Nothing was too much trouble for them.

"After Darron died they explained to us how desperate they were for equipment so we got together and agreed to form a registered charity, and it has just gone on from there."

"We didn't think the trust would be so successful. We have begged stolen and borrowed to get the money and it has been hard work, but it has been worth it."

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