A FUNDRAISER set up by a Wrexham AFC star who has been on a 'difficult journey' with his family is nearing its £20,000 target.

James Jones and wife Chloe have been raising money for the intensive care units at both Wrexham Maelor and Bolton hospitals (adult and neonatal), as well as Spoons, the charity that supported them through their difficult journey.

Their baby boy, Jude, was born 15 weeks premature on November 19 2022, weighing 1lb 4oz (640g).

On that day, as shown on the Welcome to Wrexham series, Chloe was at the Cae Ras stadium just about to watch the Reds kick-off against Aldershot Town when she started to experience severe pain in the top of her stomach.

Up until this point, Chloe’s pregnancy had been completely normal, but she was rushed to Wrexham hospital by James’ parents and shortly after arriving, it became apparent that things were not looking good for both Chloe and her unborn baby.

She was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and despite multiple attempts to lower her blood pressure it became apparent that the situation was becoming increasingly dangerous.

James at the time was on the football pitch and had in fact, just scored. Fortunately, the message got through to him and manager Phil Parkinson immediately substituted him and sent him on his way.

Still wearing his football kit, he was driven to the Maelor hospital and Jude was delivered by emergency caesarean section shortly afterwards. He was born extremely premature at just 25 weeks + 1 day and only had a 40% survival rate.

James says that neither Chloe nor Jude would have survived if the emergency caesarean had not been performed when it had.

Jude was then transferred within hours to Bolton neonatal intensive care unit.

Unfortunately there were further complications for Chloe too as the pre eclampsia turned into HELLP syndrome, which lead to Chloe having two seizures and multiple organ failure and requiring kidney dialysis.

This was an incredibly difficult situation for James, especially in the first few days as Jude was in Bolton Neonatal Intensive Care and Chloe was in Wrexham Maelor Intensive Care.

Jude was in hospital for 122 days in total which the couple say were the 'hardest days of their lives'.

He left hospital on March 21, 2023, without oxygen - which was a huge accomplishment for Jude as not many babies born so early are able to leave without that.

According to James and Chloe, he is 'beating all odds and is absolutely thriving'.

The fundraiser - which can be donated to here - has so far collected £18,300 (correct at time of writing) of its £20,000 target.

Wrexham AFC's famous co-chairmen Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney also previously donated £10,000 to the cause.

Speaking on their GoFundMe page, the couple added: "James and I would sit next to his incubator for hours on end, every day, looking at our tiny fragile baby and all the numbers on his monitor, praying that he would survive. At times, we believed he wouldn’t.

"There were two occasions when Jude’s nurse had to pull the emergency cord as he was in a critical condition. There is nothing more terrifying than seeing a room full of nurses and doctors run over to your baby without hesitation, to try and save their life.

"No baby should have to go through that and no parent should ever have to watch. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.

"We cannot thank the nurses, doctors and consultants enough for saving me and Jude. The work they do day in, day out, is amazing. There really are no words for how much it means to us, Jude is our whole world.

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"After Jude was delivered, I had two seizures. The start of the first one I remember vividly. I was so frightened. I remember hearing James saying that he loved me and that it was going to be OK. During my episodes, hearing his voice helped me find my way back. I’m so grateful to have such an incredible husband by my side.

"Jude has chronic lung disease and an adrenal insufficiency as a result of his extreme prematurity and needing courses of steroids whilst in hospital. Despite his difficult start he is dealing with everything incredibly well.

"Someone was looking out for us on the 19th of November, if we hadn’t have gone to watch James play at Wrexham, we wouldn’t have been across the road from the hospital and we wouldn’t be alive today."