A dad who feared he could lose his newborn daughter is taking on a daunting 450-mile bike ride to raise money for the hospital unit that saved her life.

Mike Rees got on a train to John O Groats on Thursday and will spend four days cycling back to his family at their home in Kirkandrews Moat, near Longtown.

His aiming to raise £1,000 for Tiny Lives, the charity supporting premature and sick newborn babies and their families on the Neonatal Unit at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI).

When his wife Eva gave birth to their fifth child, and only daughter, Amélie Rose in May, what was one of the best days of their lives turned into the scariest as their tiny baby was severely anaemic.

It is thought complications started in the womb and that Amélie had been bleeding through her placenta.

Her little organs were struggling to cope and she was in heart failure.

Hours after she was born Amélie was transferred from the Cumberland Infirmary to the RVI - with a doctor and nurse who had come from the hospital to collect her - and was given a blood transfusion on the journey.

She was also taken via the Freeman Hospital for a heart scan.

Eva, 37, couldn't go to Newcastle straight away but followed two hours later, hours that felt like the longest of her life.

She said: "When the doctor came over from Newcastle he just put us at ease.

"We knew she was really poorly but the way he explained everything, we knew she was in really safe hands going over there, which was what we needed.

"But it was still a very long wait."

Amélie was put on a ventilator and, once she came off it, quickly recovered.

She was on the unit for about a week before coming home. She is now thriving like any normal three-month-old baby.

During those tense seven days Mike travelled to and from Newcastle to care for their four sons, Luca, Corin, Dylan and Jesse, aged three to 19.

The couple have praised the amazing services provided by the unit, including breast feeding support, rooms for parents to stay and how the doctors explained everything that was going on or likely to happen.

"You don't know services like that exist until you need them and it's really nice knowing that they're there," said Eva.

"It's a big thank you to them. We don't know what we'd have done if that service wasn't there.

"Newcastle were fantastic but also in Carlisle they were brilliant too."

Mike, a wind turbine technician, said: "Without the fantastic facilities and amazing dedication and expertise of the staff at the RVI we are not sure she would be with us today.

"They were so supportive and with their care Amélie quickly recovered.

"They offer such an important service to poorly and premature babies and their families, across the whole of the north of England, and we cannot thank them enough."

Mike decided to take on the biggest cycling challenge he's ever attempted to show his appreciation.

He's doing the entire route unsupported, carrying the little supplies he can on the bike.

"I'm nervous and excited. It's going to be a big challenge, especially sleeping rough," he said.

The route, which goes via Loch Ness, Fort William, Oban, the Mull of Kintyre, and the Isle of Arran, will see Mike cycling more than 110 miles a day.

He's already raised more than £450 towards his £1,000 target.

To donate visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/amelie-rose or text NRVI99 to 70070.