This past October, Joseph Reid ran in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in full firefighter gear that weighed more than 20 pounds to raise money for and bring awareness to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) team at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC). With the community’s support and many generous donations, Reid presented the University Hospitals Kingston Foundation (UHKF) and the NICU team with a gift of more than $16,000.

Joseph Reid was motivated to give back to the NICU because his daughters, Cayden and Callie, who were born 16 weeks premature, weighing only 1 lb. 8oz. and 2 lbs. 1oz, were cared for there in the first 113 days of their lives. Today, Cayden and Callie are active, healthy four year-olds.
 
 “The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit saved my twin girls on December 24, 2014,” says Reid. “I’m grateful for what Dr. Connelly and this amazing team do at the Kingston General Hospital site. The pain and struggle I endured while running the marathon is trivial compared to what my girls, and other NICU babies, had to go through.”
 
“Like so many of our tiniest patients, Cayden and Callie required life-saving, specialized care immediately. Thankfully, we were able to provide them with the care they needed,” says Dr. Robert Connelly, Medical Director, Pediatrics, KHSC. “The impact of community donations in the NICU is never taken for granted. We are so proud and appreciative of what Joseph has accomplished.”
 
 “Joseph is inspiring,” says Evelyn Maizen, Member, Board of Directors, UHKF. “This gift is more than a donation. It’s an investment in quality of life, and it’s a gift of hope to our tiniest patients and the people who love them and long to welcome them home.”