試す - 無料

MILK ON THE MOVE

Scottish Daily Express

|

June 17, 2025

It's not just donated blood that criss-crosses the country on the back of motorbikes, but emergency breast milk brought direct from generous mums to the most vulnerable babies

- By Jane Warren

MILK ON THE MOVE

JUST after 6am on a sleepy Saturday morning in Worthing, West Sussex, the only sound to be heard is the steady hum of Roy Stagg’s motorbike.

Thirty-five miles away in Eastbourne, premature triplets born overnight are clinging to life. And in the secure, temperature-controlled box on the back of his bike, Roy is carrying more than just a delivery — he’s a courier for the precious gift of breast milk, a lifeline for fragile newborns fighting to survive.

Every journey holds meaning when you're riding for a cause. But for this softly spoken volunteer, who leads the milk donor programme in Sussex, every mile he travels carries the memory of a little girl he never got to see grow up — his granddaughter, Maggie Mae, who died at just 19 days old in 2011.

“I ride in her name,” Roy, 71, says gently, his voice steady but heavy with feeling, “She’s with me on every trip.”

A former Sussex Police officer with a lifetime of biking behind him, including on the road policing unit, Roy never imagined his retirement would take this shape. But then, no grandparent expects to lose a grandchild.

Maggie Mae was born prematurely at 24 weeks. She spent her short life in the neonatal intensive care unit at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey, Surrey.

“She was very poorly, and required a number of transfusions. She battled for 19 days, but in the end her underdeveloped lungs and an infection took her from her mum and dad, and from the rest of us,” he explains.

In those heartbreaking weeks, Roy noticed “gallant knights” constantly arriving at St Peters — men on motorcycles, arriving at all hours. “I was too preoccupied at the time to appreciate the job they were doing, and the contribution they made in Maggie’s care.”

Months later, still processing his family’s heartbreaking loss, he was astonished to discover that the riders behind those life-saving deliveries were all volunteers.

Scottish Daily Express からのその他のストーリー

Scottish Daily Express

WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG?

Desmond needed to end the farcical Nancy reign sooner

time to read

4 mins

January 06, 2026

Scottish Daily Express

You're sunk!

Fake admiral fined for wearing uniform

time to read

1 min

January 06, 2026

Scottish Daily Express

Dame Judi leads bid to save woods with Chelsea garden

THE fight to save the UK's “forgotten forests” - ancient woodlands buried under conifer plantations - is being highlighted by Dame Judi Dench and a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show.

time to read

1 min

January 06, 2026

Scottish Daily Express

Scottish Daily Express

Putin strike on hospital taunts Trump peace bid

A HOSPITAL was hit in Kyiv as part of a deadly Russian barrage on Ukraine that taunted Donald Trump's peace efforts.

time to read

1 mins

January 06, 2026

Scottish Daily Express

Swinney is blasted over NHS boast

FM 'anxious' to stop docs' strike plan

time to read

1 min

January 06, 2026

Scottish Daily Express

ROHL RELIEVED THAT STERLING IS

UNHURT AFTER LATE CAR CRASH

time to read

3 mins

January 06, 2026

Scottish Daily Express

BID TO GET SEASON BACK ON TRACK

FROM BACK PAGE

time to read

2 mins

January 06, 2026

Scottish Daily Express

Aaron shows mettle

AARON RODGERS threw NFL a touchdown pass in the final minute as the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens 26-24 to clinch the last playoff place.

time to read

1 min

January 06, 2026

Scottish Daily Express

'We couldn't face losing our boozer...so we all bought it'

How five swimmers took the plunge to save their local pub by snapping it up for £470k

time to read

4 mins

January 06, 2026

Scottish Daily Express

People to have their say on missing lynx

PEOPLE living in the north of Scotland are being invited to have their say on the potential reintroduction of lynx to the Highlands.

time to read

1 min

January 06, 2026

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size