Talking about his son Jimmy, George said: “Jimmy was born on 21 August 2023. He was two weeks early and I was just 12 hours into my paternity leave when he made his arrival into the world at Kingston Hospital.

The next day, we took Jimmy home to meet his older brother Arthur, who was two at the time. Arthur was great with Jimmy – he would stroke his head, put his dummy in, and I could see they were going to be best buddies.

Last August, we were getting ready to celebrate my niece’s second birthday. The plan was that I would pick up my dad with Arthur, and we would meet my wife Ellie and Jimmy at the party as he was having a nap in the baby carrier. I was getting ready to leave when I heard Ellie sounding really distressed. Jimmy was unconscious so we immediately called 999 and started doing CPR. The paramedics arrived after two minutes and managed to restart Jimmy’s heart after 50 minutes, but sadly he was very badly brain damaged. We were transferred from Kingston Hospital to St. George’s, where Jimmy was in intensive care for a few days, but we were told there was nothing more that could be done for him and we had to turn off his life support.

Momentum Children’s Charity reached out to us shortly after Jimmy died. Vanessa from their bereavement team, Echoes, came to talk to us about the different ways the charity could support us. I have been to a meet-up with other bereaved dads and have had a golf lesson with other dads too. As supportive as friends are, they don’t really know what to say. Talking to other bereaved dads has really helped me – we have a shared pain, grief and can advise each other on coping mechanisms.

My advice for other parents who have lost a child would be to get as much support as you can. There are so many amazing people out there who genuinely want to help. Having the support from charities like Momentum has also given us some incredible new memories with Arthur, that we might not have otherwise had.

This Sunday, 18 August, will see cricket professional and novices playing in ‘Jimmy’s XI Vs Long Ditton’, taking place at Long Ditton Cricket Club. It starts at 13:30 and anyone can come along to watch on the day. It is free entry, but we would love people to donate on the day or via our JustGiving page. All the money spent behind the bar will be donated to our two chosen charities – Momentum and St. George’s Hospital, so we will be encouraging people to eat and drink as much as they can! There will be entertainment and an auction with some fantastic prizes including a football shirt signed by the Manchester United FA Cup winning team, a Wimbledon Tennis Championship poster signed by legends including Andy Murray and Novac Djokovic, and signed cricket goodies. Momentum Children’s Charity will have a stall with some crafting activities for people to take part in.”

To find out more and to make a donation to the Alderman family’s fundraising page, click here