A West Footscray father is celebrating after smashing a fundraising target in his bid to help dads of premature newborns.
Radford White was a little sorry to see his bushy beard hit the barbershop floor on the Father’s Day weekend, but is delighted to have helped raise more than $13,500 for the Royal Women’s Hospital in the process. The money will go towards supporting the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Dads’ Group.
After 32 weeks spent cultivating the impressive beard, Mr White said his three-year-old twins Maisie and Rupert took a moment to realise he was the same dad once it was removed.
“It’s very breezy,” he said. “I feel a lot more aerodynamic as well.”
Mr White said the idea for the fundraiser emerged from the experience of having his twins born more than 10 weeks premature.
“Maisie spent the first 10 weeks in intensive care and Rupert 14 weeks – it was a very long time,” he said. “No one can prepare for a premature birth – you respond and react from there.”
Mr White credits the NICU Dads’ Group with providing invaluable support while his twins were in intensive care.
“One of the things that helped me get through was the dad’s group. I met with the dads and had an opportunity to talk together and ask any questions we might have.
The medical side was only 10 to 20 per cent of the discussion; the rest was about how dads were coping and what they were doing to get themselves through.”
Mr White began growing the beard on Australia Day, setting a target of raising $10,000 by Father’s Day.
“That was 32 weeks, which is also the average gestational period of a premmie,” he said.
“There was a bit of a bromance with random strangers stopping me in the street, I would tell them what I was raising money for and they really liked the idea.”
Mr White now wants to record interviews with past NICU dads and have them share stories and advice about what they did to get through the experience.
He also plans an e-book with advice from past dads, a “jargon buster”, and a short guide to the essential things any new father of a premature baby may wish to know.
To help, contact support@theradicaldads.com or visit give.everydayhero.com/au/BooksforBeards to contribute or take part.
