A man is helping to raise £2million for the hospital which saved his life.

James Beckett, from Enfield, is one of many former patients raising cash for St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.

The hospital’s More Smiles appeal has so far raised over £1million for improvements to the children’s intensive care unit.

Mr Beckett was 10 when he was treated for meningococcal septicaemia – a form of meningitis.

He said: “I owe my life to the children’s intensive care unit and I am so pleased to have helped the appeal reach £1 million. I owe them all so much, as do so many other patients that have passed through the hospital.

“I remember feeling very weak one morning before school - I couldn’t even walk or speak. The last thing I remember is my mum taking me to the doctors but after that everything becomes a blur.

“I was rushed to hospital in an ambulance and I have seen photos of myself with tubes and wires everywhere. The next thing I remember is waking up and the staff treating me really well while I was recovering.

“As I’ve grown older I’ve tried to live life to the full, enjoying every day and every opportunity that comes my way and not waste what everyone has done for me.” 

Mr Beckett, now 28, and his father David abseiled 10 storeys down the hospital to raise £630.

James has also cycled from London to Paris to raise money for the unit, and competed in the Paris and Vienna marathons.

Every year around 400 patients are cared for in the Children’s Intensive Care Unit at St Mary’s but it also turns away hundreds more critically ill children because it does not have enough beds. This means children sometimes have to travel as far afield as Birmingham for treatment.

In 2014, the unit had to turn away 233 children, more than half the number admitted.

The redeveloped unit would have 15 beds, almost doubling the current number, allowing more than 200 extra children to be cared for each year.

Dr Simon Nadel, children’s intensive care unit consultant and clinical lead, said: “We are delighted to have reached this milestone and would like to thank the generosity of all those who have brought us this far.

“To know we are half-way towards realising our ambition of being able to give exceptional care to more children and their families is truly exciting.  However, there is still a long way to go. We cannot do this without the continued support of the public.”

To find out more, visit www.moresmiles.org.uk.