Stuart Broad named ambassador of hospital charity

Former England cricketer Stuart Broad and his mother Carole (right) are working with a children's hospital charity

Former England cricketer Stuart Broad and his mother have been announced as the new ambassadors of a children's hospital appeal.

Broad, who was born prematurely, and his mother Carole Joyce will be supporting Nottingham Hospitals Charity’s Big Appeal.

The news has been shared on the cricketer's birthday, 38 years after he was born weighing 2lb 2oz at Nottingham City Hospital.

Broad said he owed his life to the neonatal unit in Nottingham.

Broad was born prematurely at 31-and-a-half weeks

The Big Appeal, launched in September 2023, aims to raise £1.5m for Nottingham Children’s Hospital, including a new neonatal unit at Queen’s Medical Centre.

Broad said the appeal was "really important" to him.

He said: "I was born at 31-and-a-half weeks, weighing 2lb 2oz. My dad said that when he held his hand out, my whole body fitted inside his hand.

"I was kept alive by the neonatal unit in Nottingham, so I obviously owe a huge amount – I owe my life to them.

“I’m here now, at 6ft 6in, 38 years old today, and I’ve been able to achieve a huge amount.

"Without the care I received in the first 10 weeks of my life, that certainly wouldn’t have been possible.”

Broad said he had achieved a huge number of goals, which would not have been possible without the neonatal unit

Nottingham Hospitals Charity said every year more than 1,000 premature and seriously ill babies from across the East Midlands and beyond are treated in its neonatal units.

With building work under way on the new unit, that number is set to double.

Broad added: "My mum said the hardest thing she ever had to do was drive away from the hospital without her newborn.

"As a parent myself now, I just couldn’t imagine driving away from the hospital without my daughter Annabella with us."

The NHS will fund the essentials of the new unit but the Big Appeal will provide extras like a dedicated ultrasound machine, as currently babies have to be taken to the radiology department.

It will also fund homely additions to the unit’s overnight rooms like televisions and furniture.

Carole Joyce (second left) said after seeing work on the unit: "If my child needed care, this is where I’d want to be"

Mrs Joyce added: “There’s no doubt that without the care and support we had all those years ago, Stuart wouldn’t be here today."

Nigel Gregory, chief executive of Nottingham Hospitals Charity, said they were "delighted" to welcome them as ambassadors.

He said: “After starting his life as a premature baby, Stuart has gone on to become a local and national sporting hero – it just goes to show what the tiny babies being cared for in our neonatal unit can go on to achieve."

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