Oce4nblue Fundraising Day for King’s College Hospital on Saturday 20 September 2025 in memory of Katie Bayley

By Phil & Kathryn Farrelly, 28 February 2025

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Oce4nBlue Fundraising Day for King’s College Hospital in memory of Katie Bayley on Saturday 20th September 2025.

The 4th Oce4nblue Charity Golf Tournament for King’s College Hospital will be hosted at Rookwood Golf Course. Then, from 5pm, the fundraising will continue with the afterparty hosted by Kathryn and Phil at the Dog & Bacon.

We have a Charity Golf Day at Rookwood Golf Course taking place on Saturday 20th September 2025 to fundraise for King’s College Hospital in memory of Katie Bayley. The previous golf days have raised a total in excess of £10,000 and, to date, through friends and family, have raised in excess of £40,000.

More details will follow but, in the first instance, we would like all you budding Tigers and McIlroys to get your teams together and register to take part in the 4th Oce4nblue Charity Golf Tournament at Rookwood Golf Course on Saturday 20th September 2025. Places are limited and will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

It is £55 per person to enter, which includes golf fees, coffee and bacon on arrival, and food at 5pm in the Dog & Bacon after the Charity Golf Tournament, alongside prize-giving and an evening afterparty.

Please register through Kathryn Farrelly (Katie’s aunt) in-person at the Dog & Bacon in Horsham or via email at thedogandbacon@outlook.com to secure your team’s place now.

Katie’s Story

We first became part of the King’s College Hospital (registered charity number: 230729) community following Katie’s passing in June 2016, aged just 18. Vivacious and charismatic, Katie was an active blogger, keen on new music and fashion, and had a strong following on her own blog site, Oce4nblue, which she had been running for 3+ years at the time. She was just about to take her A-Levels and already had a place at the University of Westminster to continue her career in Journalism.

However, one weekend in May 2016, Katie had what appeared to be a tummy bug with flu-like symptoms, and was treated at the local surgery. But, she soon went to the A&E unit in Salisbury Hospital and subsequently to King’s College Hospital, where she was admitted to the Liver Intensive Therapy Unit (LITU).

Tests and operations followed over the next 10 days whilst the hospital worked tirelessly to stabilise and protect her. However, Katie remained in a critical condition while she fought the virus and bacteria attacking her body and sadly passed away on 7 June 2016, aged just 18.

“Katie died from a rare, sudden and very severe illness called ‘acute hemophagocytosis’. Most often affecting young people in previous good health, it may be triggered by a viral infection like that which usually causes glandular fever. For reasons that are poorly understood, in some young people this viral infection may cause major changes in the body leading to an abnormal and overactive immune system response that may rapidly result in the failure of many of the bodies organ systems and the development of a critical illness. The rarity and severity of the illness make it particularly difficult to study and to develop effective treatments. We badly need a much better understanding of the illness and how to treat it, so that we can prevent the sudden and tragic loss of young lives that currently often result.” – Prof. W. Bernal, King’s College Hospital.

Katie’s parents, Michelle and Jared, have been raising funds for King’s College Hospital’s Liver Intensive Therapy Unit in her memory. The Liver Intensive Therapy Unit (LITU) is a unique specialist facility with a worldwide reputation for the care of critically ill patients with liver disease, major liver injuries, and acute liver failure (ALF). It is part of King’s Critical Care Service and treats over 600 patients every year, who are referred to them from local, national, and international centres. They support King’s Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic (HPB) and Liver Transplantation surgical services as Europe’s largest liver transplantation programme, and are also a leading centre for the development and use of advanced therapies. Even today, King’s serves as a tertiary referral centre in certain specialties to millions of people around the South of England.

Throughout Katie’s time at King’s, she was heavily reliant of blood products. Her friends and family have also been raising awareness and have collectively encouraged over 60 people to donate blood so far.

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