Lily-Ann Hare was just three months old when she had to have major surgery after being born with dislocated hips.

Lily-Ann Hare was just three months old when she had to have major surgery after being born with dislocated hips.

The youngster spent 10 days in the Buxton Ward at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and was put into a cast and in traction.

Now her father has pledged to cycle more than 300 miles in four days to raise money for the ward as a thank you for the brilliant care his daughter received.

Lily-Ann, now four, had an operation to remove her thigh bone from where it had become lodged behind her pelvis and to insert it into the socket of her hip.

Her parents Rudi and Anna had to make Lily special clothes to fit over the cast and even buy a new car seat and pram for transporting the youngster as she recuperated.

Mr Hare, 33, who lives in Seething, said when Lily-Ann was just a couple of days old they were warned that something might be wrong. Because she was a breech baby, the ball of her thigh bones had not properly engaged with the sockets of her hip bones and the newborn was put into a Pavlik harness in an attempt to correct this. However, when she was three months old, her parents were told that while it had solved the issue with her left leg, her right still had not engaged and she needed to undergo an operation.

Mr Hare said: 'We were very apprehensive as she was such a young age to go under general anaesthetic. We didn't know what to expect. Having your first child is difficult enough without having to manoeuvre a baby with a cast from her hip up to her neck.

'Anna had to make clothes to fit her and we had to buy another car seat and a different buggy because she couldn't fit.

'We had to change all our thinking and how we looked after her. She couldn't sleep for any more than two hours in one position as we had to turn her in case of bed sores.

'The worst part for me was seeing her come out of surgery, but she was an absolute star. She's got a good set of lungs on her but she didn't really complain and wasn't crying all the time.'

The Buxton Ward, which is in the Jenny Lind Children's Hospital at the N&N, provides care for children recovering from operations and treatments.

Mr Hare said: 'The staff on the ward were fantastic and couldn't have been more helpful. Anna spent 10 days in the hospital with Lily and they made her feel so welcome and looked after her almost as much as they looked after Lily.

'I just want to give something back and show our appreciation for how they looked after Lily.'

Lily goes to Seething and Mundham Primary School. She has to have regular check-ups, and there could be a chance she may need another operation, depending on the outcome of her next check up in May.

Mr Hare, a business development manager for Countrywide Legal Indemnities, in Duke Street, Norwich, is planning to cycle from London to Paris, accompanied by colleague Bronwyn O'Neill and former colleague Rachel Parsons.

They will be cycling 325 miles over four days and are hoping to raise �5,000 between them.

Mr Hare said: 'The big difficulty will be the difference in terrain because there are not many hills here.

'But I'm cycling to and from work most days, which is 11 miles each way, and doing more at the weekends.'

The cyclists have organised a fundraising gig thanks to the help of local band Cutback and The Dog House pub.

The gig will be at the pub on Friday, March 30, and will include an auction, for which prizes are being sought.

A pub quiz and collections at city supermarkets are also planned in the coming months.

Tickets for the gig, which are �5, can be bought from The Dog House, in St Georges Street, Norwich, or by calling Mr Hare on 07807 516186.

The team can be sponsored online at www.doitforcharity.com/rudibronrachel and more information about how they get on, and other fundraising events they hold, is available by following them on Twitter @rudibronrachL2P

Do you have a story for the Evening News? Contact reporter Kim Briscoe on 01603 772419 or email kim.briscoe@archant.co.uk