A WIRRAL man whose two children were born prematurely has cycled some of the country's steepest and highest roads to raise £11,000 for the staff who saved their lives.

Bob Meadows from Prenton saddled up during the summer for the Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge in North Wales this summer and raised £11,000.

Prior to that he has taken part in a number of exhausting cycling challenges within the last three years and raised £21,800.

He decided to raise money for the Neonatal Unit at Arrowe Park Hospital after his son was born 13 weeks early in 2001.

Determined to raise even more cash, Bob competed in the notorious Etape du Tour Mondovelo cycling challenge in France last year.

He said: "Each year I try to raise money for the hospital as my way of thanking them for the care received by my family.

"My son Robert was critically ill when he was born 13 weeks prematurely, weighing only 2lbs.

"The Neonatal Unit offered expertise and skills that saw him through difficult operations when he was only a few days old, as well as providing emotional support and guidance to our family.

"Without that care, he may not have made it through his first year.

"Due to the help of the staff at the Neonatal Unit, Robert is now a bright and healthy seven year old boy and is thriving along with his big sister, Elizabeth, who is eight."

Bob completed the physically and mentally exhausting 155 mile course, with a total ascent of more than 5,000 metres, in just over 11 hours 16 minutes, finishing 161st out of more than 600 challengers that took part.

He added: "Although I love cycling and ride around 8,000 miles a year, any event involving sitting on a bike for more than 11 hours is going to be challenging – and this one was no different.

"I am already planning my next challenge and hope to return to France to take on a section of the Tour de France course next year."

Jacqui Morgan, neonatal unit manager at Arrowe Park Hospital, said: "We are in awe of Bob's endurance efforts. We are also so grateful to him, to his colleagues at Carillion PLC's Birmingham Box Active Traffic Management project, to the supply chain partners and to other family and friends who sponsored him.

"We are thrilled to receive his donation which will be used towards the purchase of new ventilator, helping us to provide further specialised care for more premature babies and also to hep fund the resource centre where we provide support to the families of those infants."