He spent a crucial amount of time there at the very start of his life.
And now, two years later, Alexander Mackenzie has come back to Raigmore Hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) to thank the staff who looked after him.
Alexander, along with his dad Alan, 39, and mum Megan, 45, also handed over a donation of £3,230.
The family, from Portree, held a ceilidh fundraiser and a raffle to raise money for the unit at the Inverness hospital, where Alexander was cared for after he was born two months early.
They raised a total of £4,230, with £1,000 going towards the Ronald McDonald House in Glasgow, where they spent two weeks while Alexander had shunt surgery.
Mr Mackenzie, who is originally from Inverness, explained that his wife caught listeria – a serious infection usually caused by eating contaminated food – while she was pregnant.
He said: “She was rushed to Raigmore Hospital from Portree by ambulance and Alexander was born eight weeks early, weighing 4lb 7oz.
“The doctors didn’t know whether it was the stress of the birth or whether he had the infection as well.
“But they realised that he had a swelling on the brain and that he needed a shunt.”
This is a valve system that relieves pressure on the brain caused by fluid accumulation.
Mr Mackenzie said Alexander was in hospital for two months after his birth on February 1, 2014.
He said: “Although he has had all this done, he has been a picture of health ever since.
“He has to go for check ups with the neurologist in Glasgow and may have to have the shunt replaced at some stage.
“Other than that, he just carries on living a normal life.
“We are so grateful to the teams who looked after him. All the NHS staff have been fantastic throughout.”
Staff midwife Jane Elliot, who remembered the Mackenzies from their time at SCBU, accepted the donation on behalf of the unit.
She said: “It was great to see Alexander again. We are so fortunate as a unit that so many of our former patients come by to say hello.
“This is a fantastic sum of money which has been donated to the unit.
“We are very grateful to them for thinking of us and we really can’t thank them enough.”
