Watch Charlie's Story

Felicity Wheelwright and Ben Bucknell’s son Charlie made an unexpected arrival on Easter Saturday in 2022. Felicity was just 31 weeks into her pregnancy when she went into labour on their family farm in Roselyn near Crookwell. On the day that Charlier arrived early, Ben and Felicity had a house full of guests, Felicity was on the tractor when she felt what she suspected to be Braxton Hicks, but a quick trip to their small local hospital turned into a day they’ll never forget. 

Crookwell Hospital had a bed, but no real capacity to care for a premature baby in distress with the maternity ward closing 23 years earlier. When Felicity arrived at the hospital, Dr Lau (locum) confirmed that she was in fact in labour and recognised the danger of a 31-week birth the local team jumped into action. It was at this time that 86-year-old Dr Ramaswamy Thangavelu (Dr Velu), a local GP, and Clinical Nurse Donna Skelly were both called in to help. Remarkably, Dr Velu had delivered Felicity herself 40 years earlier when Crookwell did have a labour unit, and now he was delivering her son. Multiple calls were made to NETS – the Newborn & Paediatric Emergency Transport Service. Teams from Canberra, Sydney and a road crew from Goulburn were mobilised, but with no beds available in Canberra, Charlie’s only hope was the helicopter team flying in from Sydney.  

Charlie was born at 1:00am weighing just 1.68 kilograms and in severe respiratory distress. A Humpty-donated Good Egg Infant Resuscitation Pack meant everything needed to stabilise him was on hand in one kit. For the next hour and a half, the NETS team worked non-stop, methodically stabilising Charlie while Felicity and Ben could only watch. Ben recalls the calm, precise teamwork: 

“The NETS team must be the Navy SEALs of the medical world – extraordinarily capable, methodical and calm after literally being helicoptered into a crisis.”

After three hours of solid work by the team, Charlie was finally stable enough to be airlifted to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. Felicity stayed behind in Crookwell until the next morning, by the time she reached Sydney around 1pm the next day, Charlie was already in the NICU.

Baby Charlie receiving critical care in NICU 

The weeks that followed tested the family’s resilience. For the first week, Felicity slept in a bed in the maternity ward at RPA, setting alarms to pump every two hours. She and Ben committed to Kangaroo care for up to eight hours a day, spending long days at Charlie’s bedside before returning to their apartment each night. “Living on a farm, you become very self-sufficient,” Felicity said. 

“But without accommodation in the city, I don’t know how we could have managed. For families from regional areas, it’s a huge challenge.”

Charlie spent five weeks in hospital before being discharged, and three months on, he was thriving back at home in Roslyn. For Felicity and Ben, the experience highlighted not only the skill and dedication of the Crookwell team and NETS, but also the critical role of Humpty equipment in ensuring babies like Charlie get the best possible chance. 

“They made a very scary situation manageable, because we knew we were in good hands,” Ben said.

Charlie at home with his dad Ben and mum Felicity